Life up in smoke: 'What have I done to deserve this?'

George Netz and his family have had the year from hell. For the past five days there's one thought he can't get out of his head: What did I do to deserve this?

TRAGEDY: George Netz's family property at Glenleigh went up in flames in a house fire last Wednesday. The fire destroyed everything. Picture: Mackenzie Colahan

GEORGE Netz and his tight-knit family have been forced to endure a year from hell.

George's life began to unravel in November 2017 when he was rocked by the passing of his father.

They were extremely close. They had lived together on the land at Glenleigh all their life.

Two weeks ago, his brother Tony suffered a massive stroke and was placed in intensive care at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

He was unresponsive. Doctors tried to relieve the swelling on his brain but he contracted pneumonia and his condition deteriorated rapidly.

At 3.08pm last Wednesday, Tony passed away.

In the fortnight Tony was in the ICU, George's son Ryan had a health scare of his own, hospitalised twice with a heart condition.

The Netzs knew Tony's death was coming but George couldn't make it back to Brisbane to be at his brother's side like he had planned.

George was at his sister Anne's neighbouring property when they received the heartbreaking news.

He had left home just minutes earlier and was on his way to Monto to visit the vet.

Less than 15 minutes later, shortly after 4pm, George and Anne heard gunshots.

They thought nothing of it until the ringing of gunfire was punctuated by a loud bang. They ran outside to see a thick cloud of smoke billowing from the direction of George's home a kilometre to the west.

He rushed back to find his house engulfed in fire. There was nothing he could do.

The shots they heard was ammunition going off inside his safe. It was the only thing still standing.

An hour after losing his brother, George sat on a tree stump and cried as he watched everything he owned go up in flames.

The property on Netzs Rd has been in the family since its selection in 1928. It was the first in the Monto district with electricity.

Three generations' worth of memories were completely destroyed.

By the time emergency services arrived it was too late. All they were left with were the clothes on their back.

Netzs Road Fire

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For the past five days there has been one thought on George's mind: "What have I done to deserve this?”

He told the Central and North Burnett Times he'd struggled to come to terms with how one family could have so much bad luck.

"I still can't get my head around it,” he said.

"I feel worse each time I come back and see it. That house has been there all my life.

"There is nothing left. You wouldn't believe how much can be lost in such a short period of time.

"We lost everything.”

Police, QFES and George agreed there was nothing suspicious about the blaze.

An electric heater was on, there was wood burning in a stove and coals in a separate heater on the balcony.

Nothing out of the ordinary. He had left the house like that thousands of times before.

They still don't have a clue how it started.

The financial loss is tough to take but the Netzs are more concerned with the things that money can't replace.

"Stuff you can buy means nothing,” George said.

"You see it every day and you take it for granted.

"All the kids' memories - birth certificates, old photos, their school things - and stuff my grandfather built.

"That's the stuff I can't replace. I can't buy that back.”

Factor in the drought and the ongoing battle to feed their cattle and you begin to wonder how much one family can take.

The resilience shown by George and his family has been nothing short of remarkable.

"It's so deflating. It has just been one thing on top of another,” he said.

"I want to thank everyone that has helped us - we appreciate it all.

"We've been offered everything and anything, the generosity from people in Monto has been beyond belief.

"It's phenomenal. People who have nothing have been giving to us.

"We'll be taking each day as it comes. Really small steps forward, we can't go any further backwards.”

If you would like to support the Netz family during this difficult time you can donate to via a GoFundMe campaign online.