Police reveal cause of fire that destroyed Machans Beach home
A FIFO worker whose house went up in flames last week has an anxious wait before being able to assess the damage to his home and historic boat parked in the driveway.
Cairns
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A FIFO worker whose house went up in flames last week has an anxious wait before being able to return to Cairns and assess damage to his home and a historic boat parked in the driveway.
Last Thursday Queensland Fire and Emergency Services battled to contain a blaze that engulfed a Machans Beach property belonging to a mine worker yet to return to Cairns from Western Australia.
Living next door, Dan Vowles’ Barron River Esplanade home came within a whisker of also going up in flames.
Flames licked the fascia boards along the side of the house and ignited leaves in the roof guttering.
“We were very lucky,” he said.
“It’s burnt the inside of the fence, burnt the eves of my house, bubbled the paint along the side of the house and burnt the airconditioning ducting.
“We had a close call.
“But our damage is very minimal and that side of the house was due for some work.”
Not at home when the fire broke out, Mr Vowles expressed his gratitude for quick-thinking neighbours who leapt into action before fireys arrived at the scene.
“We were all out at the time and the neighbours came in and rescued the pets and used the garden hose to try and put the fire out,” he said.
Cairns Station Officer Jose Lopez attending the blaze said the fire started at the back of the property and quickly spread.
He said the age of the property meant there were concerns about the possibly of toxins such as asbestos.
“We had two crews in breathing apparatus to extinguish the flames,” station officer Lopez said.
“We could not enter the house so our crews fought it from the outside.”
Already well ablaze when trucks arrived at the house six QFES appliances managed to contain the flames and prevent fire spreading but couldn’t not save the FIFO worker’s property.
“There is nothing salvageable and his 80-year-old boat was destroyed,” Mr Vowles said.
The fire is not being treated as suspicious and is believed to be started by an electrical fault, according to Queensland Police.
No one was home at the time of the fire.
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Originally published as Police reveal cause of fire that destroyed Machans Beach home
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