Elderly resident in Manoora narrowly escapes house fire with her 13 year old dog

An elderly homeowner and her 13-year-old dog have narrowly escaped a blaze that ripped through their Cairns property in the early hours of Monday morning.

An elderly homeowner and her 13-year-old dog have narrowly escaped a blaze that ripped through their Manoora property in the early hours of Monday morning.

Residents on Murray Street reported being woken by “loud bangs”, billowing black smoke and flames about 12.30am, as flames spread throughout the adjoining single story properties.

Residents made it out of the Murray Street, Manoora, house fire Monday morning, unharmed. Picture: Brendan Radke

The homeowner, 82, who lived in the building but asked to remain anonymous, said the fire made “a hell of a noise”.

“I woke to a sound, a whirring sound and thought ‘what is that noise’, then immediately realised I gotta get out,” she said.

Escaping the fire unharmed, she said her main concern was making sure her beloved pup Zac was OK.

“I thought it was something outside on the street, so I came out the front, couldn’t see anything and then went back to the kitchen,” she said.

“Honestly, the only thing I was worried about was the dog, I was in panic about him the whole time, I carried him around with me because I couldn’t find his leads.”

Surrounding neighbours have been checking in on the occupants after the fire offering support to help clean or lending clothes as police and fire forensics cordon off the home.

One concerned neighbour across the road, Howard Wano, said he was eating a meal when he and his aunty heard a sound “like a blast”.

“There was big smoke and you could smell it, my cousins, aunty and me came outside, I went down the street, saw the fire and called the fire department,” he said.

One side of a duplex has been reported to be “fully engulfed”. Murray Street resident Howard Wano lives opposite the affected property, and called triple-0 after smelling smoke and witnessing the flames. Picture: Brendan Radke

Describing the fire as “pretty big” Mr Wano said although the residents of the property came out coughing, they appeared to be unhurt.

Seven fire trucks had been dispatched to the scene, with Queensland Fire Department confirming the fire was “well involved”.

However, firefighters had the blaze under control by 12.50am shortly after their arrival at 12.30am.

Queensland Fire Department at the scene on Monday morning. Picture: Brendan Radke

They reported having extinguished the flames by 1.10am, after an 20 minutes of “dampening”.

A spokesman for the Queensland Police Department said while investigations were ongoing the fire is not believed to be suspicious.

“At this time, there is an ongoing investigation, however, no one was injured and police are treating the fire as non-suspicious,” a spokesman said.

Originally published as Elderly resident in Manoora narrowly escapes house fire with her 13 year old dog