BREAKING: Unit gutted by fire in inner Gympie

Neighbours wake to smoke alarms at 3.30am, fire crews take almost an hour to get a raging blaze under control.

A UNIT in inner Gympie was gutted by flames in the early hours of this morning with four fire crews taking close to an hour to get the raging blaze under control.

Neighbours in a nearby unit - one of several in the block on Elgin St - woke to the sound of screaming smoke alarms at 3.30am and called triple-0.

Crews from Cooran and Pomona were called to assist Gympie firefighters at a unit fire that took hold at 3.30am this morning.

When firefighters arrived on the scene the blaze was "fully involved" in the two-level brick corner unit, Gympie Fire Station officer Adrian Bond said.

The owner was not home and the adjoining unit was also unoccupied, he said.

But caged budgies at the unit required rescuing, he said.

Unit gutted by fire

VIEW GALLERY

MORE: Qld first: Gympie businessman charged over worker's death

The fire had damaged the inside of the unit significantly, he said, small evidence of charred walls, broken windows and twisted metal on the outside not showing the full extent of the damage.

 

Neighbour Patricia Dwyer, who lives six doors from the burnt unit, said it had been a “close shave”.

Patricia Dwyer, a long-term resident who lives six doors down in the unit block woke to a strange smell and the sight of flashing lights through her bedroom window.

The fire was out when she woke, but while watching firefighters clean-up she said it had been a "close shave".

"Someone's looking after me," she said.

MORE GYMPIE NEWS: 23yo man accused of serious attack on Gympie cop

A Gympie unit was gutted by fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Fire investigators will visit the scene today, Mr Bond said.

He could not comment on the possible cause of the fire.

Smoke damage on the walls of the unit.

Originally published as