$1m damage: Major Brisbane gym gutted by fire

Devastating video has captured the aftermath of a fire that started at peak time and destroyed at least half of one of Brisbane’s newest and biggest gyms. SEE THE VIDEO

The owner of a Brisbane gym seriously damaged after a fire began in an infra-red sauna has told of his devastation.

Founder of the gym and health club brand, Fitness Cartel, Nathan James said the blaze that partly destroyed his Aspley location on Monday afternoon left him sleepless.

“This morning when I went to site, because obviously I couldn’t sleep, I went there at 3am and I just could not fathom the amount of damage and how quick it was done,” he said.

“Thank God no one was in there … when I first heard and saw the picture I didn’t think it was that serious.”

Owner Nathan James said he believed the fire started in an infra red sauna. Picture: Fitness Cartel

The aftermath of the blaze.

While the sauna was empty when the fire started, Mr James said the gym was at capacity during their peak time when a team member discovered the fire just before 4pm.

“One of the trainers saw the glowing light and went to see it was really alight, so he did what he had to do and got everyone out of the building,” he said.

“It’s lucky the fire brigade contained it because it pretty much destroyed the whole bathroom and probably 50 per cent of the gym.”

Despite fire crews arriving within minutes of the initial call, the heat of the blaze, the smoke and the amount of water required to fight it will leave the gym closed for some time, the owner said.

“The sanitiser outside the 24-hour visit door melted, it was so hot, and the green emergency exit sign melted, both about 30 meters away,” he said.

Some of the devastation. Picture: Fitness Cartel

“The damage cost will be over $1 million, easily, for the bathrooms, the crèche, reception and group fitness because there’s a lot of water damage, the guys obviously have to contain it and dampen it.”

A QFES spokesman said they received the call at 3:54pm as the first crew arrived just after 4pm and the fire was extinguished.

He said after crews dampened the scene and ventilated the building was left in the hands of management.

Mr James said he had up to 16 tradies in the building on Tuesday as the company looked toward reopening the Aspley location while aiming to establish 60 clubs by 2029.

“We had a bit of a strategy plan, so our members will hopefully access Virginia and Nundah which are not too far away and then July 5 is our target (to reopen),” he said.

Mr James, a former owner of World Gym Australia and owner/operator of Genesis Fitness Clubs and Australian Sports Nutrition stores, said he is no stranger to disaster.

“Fitness Cartel Oxley had the floods in 2022, five weeks after we opened it, it was flooded under two meters of water,” he said.

“We’ve been through a few cyclones and floods when I owned World Gym but it never gets any easier.”

Fitness Cartel founder Nathan James. Picture: John Gass

He said once it was clear everyone was safe, his thoughts went to the employees who could face devastating loss of work during a cost of living crisis.

“We’ve got mums that work in the crèche, people that work in reception, they have young families, and then they’re the sole providers, so I know they would instantly freak out,” he said.

“Personal trainers have to pay their rent, so we instantly organised where we can put the team members in other facilities because as a leader of a company, my goal was to make sure our team is okay.”