House fire victim dies days after being rescued by a brave neighbour

A Fraser Coast man, saved from a burning home, has died in hospital. It comes after a neighbour bravely went to his aid.

A Queensland man, saved from a burning home, has died in hospital. It comes after a neighbour bravely went to his aid. Picture: Isabella Magee

A man, who had been fighting for his life after his house caught fire on Tuesday, August 3, has sadly died.

Queensland Police confirmed the 72-year-old lost his fight for life in the early hours of Friday, August 6.

He had remained in a critical condition with respiratory issues until his passing.

The elderly man has been saved from flames engulfing his Fraser Coast home by a neighbour who “put on a pair of footy shorts and ran” to retrieve him without a second thought.

The home, on Honey Myrtle Close at Burrum Heads, caught fire at about 9.20am on Tuesday morning before multiple fire, police and ambulance crews attended.

The 72-year-old lived alone in the home, which was completely gutted by flames.

Neighbours quickly worked together to help the man and stop the fire from spreading further.

Shane Fowler ran inside a burning building to rescue his elderly neighbour. Picture: Isabella Magee

Still shaken up and in shock Shane Fowler, 48, recounted how he ran into the burning home to drag the elderly man out to safety.

“I heard a neighbour from across the road, saying that there was smoke coming from the house next door,” Mr Fowler said.

“I was actually resting in bed and I quickly jumped out, put on a pair of footy shorts and came running out and I noticed that the house was on fire,” Mr Fowler said as he sat near the scene this morning.

“I decided to go down to the side of the house to see if (the occupant) was still in the house. I saw he was in the house, I was at the back sliding glass door with my other neighbour, Brian, and we were singing out to him.”

The usually quiet street had a shock awakening this morning. Picture: Isabella Magee

Tearing up at the memory, Shane said that at first when he was telling the man to come towards the back door to escape the fumes, he got no response.

He called out again and still nothing.

The third time, Shane was relieved to hear “yeah” in return.

“I was trying to explain to him to get down low to come out because all we could see was smoke, it was like looking at a white wall,” Mr Fowler said.

“I got down low, because I couldn't see and I saw an air pocket, and when I was looking towards the kitchen, I could see his shins.”

Picture: Isabella Magee

This is the moment fight or flight kicked in for Shane, as he instinctively “decided to crawl in the house, grab hold of (the elderly man) and drag him out”.

“I was a bit hesitant at first because I couldn’t see that far in front of me … everything just happened so fast,” Shane said.

“The smoke was taking my breath away, it was burning my throat.

“That’s why I sort of grabbed him and just dragged him out, I said: ‘Come on, we’ve got to get out’.”

Judy Spalding (R) with her husband. Picture: Isabella Magee

Another neighbour, Judy Spalding, also went into action to save the man.

“My husband got back from the shop and said he thought the fire alarm was going off in (the man’s) house … so I chucked on my slippers, put my shoes on raced over the road,” Judy told the Chronicle.

After ripping open the unlocked screen door, she found the main door was bolted shut.

“All I could see was smoke.”

Three people were treated by paramedics. Picture: Isabella Magee

Judy then ran back to her home across the road and phoned for fireys, before running back across the street to the neighbouring home to wake Shane.

Tyre marks seen along Honey Myrtle Close after construction workers pulled the man’s car away from flames. Picture: Isabella Magee

Neighbours told the Chronicle they weren’t the only ones who stepped in, either, as nearby construction workers moved the man’s car from his driveway and away from the flames.

Maryborough Area Commander Inspector Vanessa Madge. Picture: Isabella Magee

The fire took almost an hour to extinguish, Maryborough Area Commander Inspector Vanessa Madge said.

“We responded with three urban appliances and three rural appliances and on arrival, we established that the property was partially well involved (with flames) at the front of the property,” she told the Chronicle.

Officers later confirmed the blaze started in a bedroom of the single storey home, and was an “accidental fire” that was not being treated as suspicious.