Mum’s grim smoke alarm warning after two fires in 10 days

An Aussie mum has issued a stark warning to all Australians after her entire family was nearly wiped out in not one, but two house fires.

This is the moment a mother screams “no” as her house burns down in front of her eyes — just 10 days after another fire.

Montana Adams was cleaning her Macquarie Fields granny flat on May 18 last year when her daughter sprinted outside and said there was a fire in the main house.

“I went outside, and the airconditioning unit that was attached to the main house was up in flames,” Ms Adams told news.com.au.

She ran into the house, which was filled with black smoke, and she made sure everyone had gotten out safely. Firefighters came, put out the flames and thankfully there was no damage to the property.

“They asked us, ‘Did the fire alarms go off?’ and we said no. We asked them to check them and both smoke alarms that were in the property — one upstairs and one downstairs — were found to be defective,” she said.

“Luckily the fireys replaced the smoke alarms.”

Montana Adams faced two house fires in 10 days. Picture: Supplied

Just 10 days later, at 2am the smoke alarms started to go off. Ms Adams jumped up and could immediately smell smoke.

“I just screamed, kicking people’s doors down to get them up. I grabbed two little ones, who have disabilities, and ran downstairs,” she said.

“I kept screaming so the kids downstairs could get up. We all got up and we just ran to the front door. We ran through the flames because the fire started in the lounge room.”

Thankfully, everyone made it out safely, despite the “intense” flames.

Emergency services were called, who got there with in five minutes but by the time they arrived the whole house was up in flames.

Ms Adams had a spare key for her car in the granny flat, so she ran back to get that and as she jumped in her car and pulled out of the driveway the windows of the home exploded.

“Unfortunately, we did lose a pet,” she said.

Images of the second fire. Picture: Supplied

She said she is lucky to be alive. Picture: Supplied

The fire was contained, and it took three hours to put out. It is thought to have started due to a powerboard in the lounge room. During this time the family of 10 split up, with some going to Ms Adam’s eldest daughter’s house and some going into the granny flat to get supplies as it had been untouched.

All of a sudden, the house reignited. Media crews that were still there called emergency services and the family fled the property once again.

“We pretty much just watched upstairs just burn away. There was no saving anything. Then, the granny flat was affected and got burnt on the side of it,” she said.

The ordeal lasted 11 hours.

“It was so traumatic. I still see the flames now, I hear the cracking and I still hear the windows exploding,” she said.

“If it wasn’t for those smoke alarms, there 100 per cent would have been a fatality.”

She is warning others to update fire alarms and have a fire evacuation plan. Picture: Supplied

She said one thing she has learned is making sure the smoke alarms are working, saying if the first fire didn’t happen she didn’t think her family would still be alive today. She also said it was so important to have a fire escape plan. Ms Adams said a house fire can happen to literally anyone and it is so important to update appliances.

“We were all close to death,” she said.

Ms Adams’ stark warning comes as Allianz released data that showed claims for electric blanket, heater and fireplaces reached a whopping $8 million in damages between March 2023 and March 2025. Wood burning heaters were the biggest culprits, doubling electric blankets. Electric blankets claim value sat at more than $255k.

Fire and Rescue NSW also started it responded to 26.2 per cent more residential fires in winter than in summer, which equates to roughly 11 more fires a day. It also meant close to 30 per cent more injuries. Around 45 per cent of those homes did not have a smoke alarm or it wasn’t working.

Originally published as Mum’s grim smoke alarm warning after two fires in 10 days