‘Wall of flames’: Hero backpacker drags sleeping man from house inferno

A hero backpacker has told how faced a collapsing ceiling and wall of flames as he raced into a burning home during an early morning fire south of Brisbane, dragging a sleeping man from the blaze. SEE THE VIDEO

A British backpacker on a working holiday has become a hero after saving a sleeping man from a house fire, moments before the property was engulfed in flames.

Zach Stewart, who has been in Australia for 14 months, said he was working on the road out the front of the Eagleby residence on Hughes Street, when he noticed flames in the living room window.

“There were two ladies helping each other out of the house,” Mr Stewart said.

“I was just going over to give them a hand and they started shouting that someone was still in the house.

“The adrenaline just kicked in and I ran in.

“When I got inside, the wall in the front of the house was on fire and there was smoke everywhere.

“I started looking around at all the rooms, and I found a man still asleep in his bed, so I just grabbed him and dragged him out through the front door”.

Zach Stewart, a British backpacker from London on a working holiday in Queensland, pulled a sleeping man from a house fire moments before the property was engulfed in flames.

Mr Stewart said, from the outside, the fire did not look as bad as it really was.

“When I got into the living room, I saw the whole wall on fire and the ceiling starting to catch,” he said.

“By the time I got back to the living room, the whole ceiling was on fire”.

Mr Stewart’s friend, colleague and fellow British backpacker Vince Marquese, called him a hero.

“He has a great story to tell down at the pub this afternoon,” Mr Marquese said.

“As soon as Zach got out of the house with the man, the whole ceiling collapsed and there was fire everywhere.

“It was like something out of a movie.

“One of the women was in hysterics, wanting to go back in to get photos of her kids.

“So I held her back. It’s silly to go back in.

“It was pretty heartbreaking to see them like this.

“Possessions can be replaced, but as long as she’s fine, that’s the main thing”.

A fierce fire at Eagleby. Photo: George Zanatta

Fellow worker Skye Dunmore said the residents had been friendly in the past.

“Last Friday they handed out beers to all of us working here,” Ms Dunmore said.

The fire that engulfed the single-story home was reported at 8am, with six fire crews attending the scene.

Incident controller and station officer from Beenleigh Fire Station, Sean Johnston, said the house was already engulfed in flames when the crews arrived.

The burnt out house. PICTURE: Jonathan O'Neill

“On arrival, the front of the house was fully engulfed in a very intense flame, and luckily no occupants were inside,” Johnston said.

“We believe the fire has started in the front living room.

“There’s a possibility an E-scooter battery was on charge in that room.

“We have the fire investigation unit on the way to properly investigate the matter.

“We had an issue with asbestos due to the construction of the property.

“The second arriving truck did a great job to ensure that neighbouring residents were evacuated well down the street, and we shut up the neighbouring houses to avoid any contamination of those properties”.

The house is owned by the government.