Young couple amazed by community support after devastating Hawthorne fire

The lives of a couple have been turned upside down after a fire almost destroyed everything they had just months after starting a new chapter together. SEE VIDEO

A young couple’s life has been turned upside down after everything they had was destroyed in a devastating fire in Brisbane’s southeast.

Jasmine Bradbery and her partner, Nathan, had only just moved out of home to start a new and exciting chapter in a rental- using most of their savings to move into a beautiful Queenslander in Hawthorne.

But on Monday that came crashing down when the house on Leura Ave burst into flames around 9am, causing significant damage to the property and destroying everything the couple had.

Jasmine Bradbery and her partner, Nathan, almost lost everything in a house fire in Hawthorne.

“On Monday I got a phone call from my partner that our house was on fire, I rushed home to see my home up in smoke,” Ms Bradbery said.

“I was distressed and anxious.

“Some lovely neighbours took my partner and myself in for the day. They gave us tea and coffee, offered us a place to stay, washed our clothes for us, and gave us refuge.”

A house on Brisbane's southside has been engulfed by flames this morning. Picture: Brayden Heslehurst

Ms Bradbery said it was devastating seeing the amount of damage when they were able to enter the property.

“We saw that most of what we owned was destroyed,” she said.

“This was devastating as we had only just moved out of our parents’ houses to begin our life together and to see everything we worked so hard for in that state was heartbreaking.”

Smoke from the fire at a property in Hawthorne on Brisbane's southside has been affecting surrounding areas. Picture: Queensland Fire and Emergency Service

But luckily, the local community had their backs, with residents donating items and a GoFundMe page set up to help the couple rebound from the blaze with almost $4000 donated so far.

“I posted on the neighbourhood Facebook page and we received overwhelming support from our community,” she said.

“Everyone has been so incredibly generous with offering us money, furniture, linens, games, electronics, and appliances.

One woman has been taken to hospital following a major house fire on Brisbane’s southside, with locals warned to take care as smoke is affecting the local area. Picture: Brayden Heslehurst

“My partner, Nathan, and I really would love to express our gratitude for everyone’s help and support during this time.

“We feel very hopeful that we will be able to rebuild and move forward from all of this. We are so grateful for every offer of help we received.”

A total of six fire crews attended the fire on Monday morning with one resident recalling the “scary” and “horrendous” scenes on a usually quiet street.

“I thought I’d drive towards it to make sure someone isn’t hurt and that it’s not someone’s house I know, because I know a lot of people here,” local resident, Ingrid Khan, said.

The scenes following a major house fire on Brisbane’s southside, with locals warned to take care as smoke is affecting the local area. Picture: Brayden Heslehurst

“When I got here, I was very distressed, I couldn’t make out the street name even though I live close by and the house was just pure black smoke.

“I got to the corner of the street and called triple-0 and the fire brigade and within two minutes it just went smash, like all the windows and the fire, it just burst out into flames.

“Then a lady two doors up came screaming out onto the street saying her kids were at daycare but she was just stressed.

“Then I heard screaming from the house, hoping that it was from a neighbouring house but I didn’t know.

“Then the police turned up and they heard it too, then I heard the police go ‘where are you, are you OK, where are you’ very loudly, he obviously went into the property and then the fire brigade turned up.

“But the smoke just got too much so we had to leave but when it got bad, it was just like an instant smash of fire and all the windows smashed.

“It was very, very scary and I was just hoping whoever was screaming wasn’t inside.”

Kemp Place fire station firefighter Mark Crowe said quick thinking by neighbours helped those inside evacuate and escape the fire safely. Picture: Brayden Heslehurst

Kemp Place fire station firefighter Mark Crowe said on Monday quick thinking by neighbours helped those inside evacuate and escape the fire safely.

“The damage to the upstairs of the house is quite significant with downstairs suffering both water and smoke damage,” he said.

“It took about 20 or 30 minutes to get the fire under control and then crews moved in to dampen down and remove hot spots, so it took a significant time to have the fire completely out.”

The scenes following a major house fire on Brisbane’s southside, with locals warned to take care as smoke is affecting the local area. Picture: Brayden Heslehurst

Mr Crowe said there were concerns for neighbouring houses with only around 2m separating properties on the street with a total of six people from the burning house and surrounding properties evacuated due to the blaze.

“There were quite a few exposures because there’s not much distance between houses so a couple of houses did suffer superficial damage but crews conducted exposure protection to stop the fire jumping to those houses,” he said.

Investigations are continuing.