House goes up in flames at Coolsetti Avenue, Yeppoon
The hero boss of a tyre business has given an incredible account of the moment what he thought was a shooting turned out to be an explosive house fire and his desperate efforts to save the people and pets inside. DETAILS, PHOTOS.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A heroic neighbour has given a dramatic account of his desperate attempts to wake residents of a Yeppoon home that exploded in flames early on Saturday.
Kane Liddicut was alerted to the blaze that gutted the Coolsetti Avenue home across the road from him, by a series of “bangs” he first feared were gunshots.
He was wearing a headset and watching a movie just after midnight when all hell broke loose in the normally quiet cul-de-sac.
“All I heard was a bang - this big bang. It sounded like a gun went off and then I went out the back door, come back around and then I heard another bang and I’ve just gone straight over… I’m thinking someone’s shooting someone,” Kane said.
He ran to the burning home and jumped the wooden fence, unable to get through the gate.
He knew that people, including children, lived there and he rushed to the front door in an attempt to alert them or gain access.
“I was screaming, that’s why I’ve lost my voice now because I was just hammering it, trying to wake everyone up,” he said.
“My feet just smashed the s— out of the door and then I broke something in my hand (while bashing it), I elbowed it, I did everything.
“I just couldn’t get in and I had everything going, every ounce of adrenaline running.
“I didn’t have a phone on me or anything and I just went to kick the next door and then bang, the fourth pop went, and the whole window just blew out over the top of me and hit the roof.
“It was horrendous - it was so quick, so violent.
“I looked up and there’s flames and glass flying everywhere.”
Unable to access the burning home, he raced to help his wife and children evacuate a woman from the house next door to it which was now also under threat.
Kane, who operates the local Bridgestone Service Centre at Yeppoon, said the flames were more than 10m higher than the roof of the burning home and were “licking the guttering” of the next door neighbour’s home.
Once she was safe, he turned his attention back to the burning house and to his relief, saw two of its residents walk around the side towards him.
“They were asleep. Apparently they went out the back and through the creek,” he said.
The two occupants were clearly in shock but Kane was desperate to know there was no-one left inside.
“I’m yelling, ‘Mate, is anyone in the house?’ because I’d go back in, no dramas.
“I said, ‘are you 150,000 percent sure there’s no one in there?!”
Kane said it was incredibly lucky half of the family who resided in the burning house was in Brisbane at the time.
Their two pet German shepherds also survived thanks to Kane rescuing them.
“The poor buggers (two male occupants) had no idea what was going on,” Kane said, describing their expressions as “two stunned mullets”.
“They’ve lost everything.”
Kane said it was “beyond lucky” no-one was injured or worse.
“It (the house) was gone in 60 seconds.
“To think no-one is dead from that fire still blows my mind.”
Fire crews, who were quickly on scene, remained at the house for four hours conducting dampening down before leaving about 4am.
The blaze was so intense that it reignited about 8.30am on Saturday and the fire brigade attended again.
Kane believes if the fireys had arrived two minutes later, the next door neighbour’s house would have been destroyed as well.
“They (fireys) did a fantastic job.
“With the wind and the flames, it (fire) was bouncing off her (next door neighbour’s) wall on that side.”
He said he had never experienced anything like it before.
“No way, man. What you see on the movies is one thing but that was scary.
“My kids grew up real quick last night.”
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said three fire-fighting crews attended with the first arriving at the scene about 12.25am.
“The structure was fully involved (by fire) when they arrived,” the QFES spokesman said.
The QFES spokesman said all occupants were accounted for and there appeared to have been a partial structural collapse.
“We were still dampening down at 2.20am and then we finished up just before 4am,” he said.
The QFES spokesman said the cause of the blaze was unknown at this stage.
Queensland Ambulance Service attended the scene but no-one required treatment.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said police were investigating the incident.
“It is undetermined, the cause (of the fire) at this time,” she said.
Monster roo’s attack on Central Qld man under investigation
State Government officers and local authorities are investigating a monster kangaroo attack on a man in a tiny Central Queensland town.
Troubled man assaults sister after she does him a favour
A Central Queensland man assaulted his sister after she let him reside at her place because he had nowhere else to go, a court has heard.