Highgate Hill fire: Hero neighbours save elderly siblings from inferno

The family of siblings rescued from a raging house fire in Brisbane have thanked the hero who risked his life to save his neighbours.

The family of elderly siblings who were rescued from a raging house fire in Highgate Hill Saturday night have shown their appreciation to the “hero” who risked his life to save his neighbours.

Phillip Rizzo, the step-nephew of Christine and Daniel McAlorum, said his faith in strangers has now been restored after hearing that his aunt and uncle were saved by a man they didn’t even know.

“What a great person, to not even know them. The fact that he got there so quickly. It’s unbelievable that something could happen like that,” he said.

“I said to him on the night thank you, but how do you thank someone for saving someone’s life? There’s just no words.

“Hero is thrown around too easily but his actions were not premeditated. He just did it, and he kicked down the front door. That takes some effort.”

The house was largely destroyed by the fire.

Mr Rizzo said all his aunt remembers from the harrowing night is a hand grabbing her and telling her she needed to get out. That was John, a 23-year-old engineer who lived just across the road.

John said he was in his home with his partner before he heard kids yelling “fire”.

“I ran up to the front door and it was locked. The house was full of stuff and equipment so I had to pull the doors off,” he said.

“And then I went inside the house and grabbed them.”

The charred photo albums was all Christine was able to save from the blaze.

Mr Rizzo said the elderly siblings had lived in the home for the majority of their lives, since the 1970s, but they’re now staying with him and his wife nearby.

“I don’t think they comprehend what’s happened. They’ve got nothing, they lost everything,” he said.

“You don’t realise until after it’s done. The whole thing is surreal, now we’re just sorting out what we’re going to do and where they’re going to stay.”

From their clothes to the medication, the elderly siblings lost all of their belongings in the fire, with Christine only able to save photo albums which are full of memories at the house.

But without John’s selfless act, Mr Rizzo said the situation could be so much worse.

“People use the word hero too lightly, but he’s just a brilliant person. He was prepared to break into a house that was on fire. Who does that?” Mr Rizzo said.

“They came out with only the clothes on their back, but they’re fine… and it’s all due to him.”

The aftermath of the fire at Laura Street, Highgate Hill. Picture: Liam Kidston

EARLIER

An elderly brother and sister have escaped injury thanks to the actions of quick-thinking neighbours who alerted them to a fire at their Highgate Hill property.

The timber Queenslander house has been seriously damaged after it went up in flames on Saturday night.

Fire crews responded shortly after 10pm to reports of fire and found the home at the intersection of Gloucester and Mabel St in Highgate Hill fully involved when they arrived.

Vision posted to social media shows the home well alight and an eerie yellow glow lighting up the sky.

Two elderly people have escaped a fire at their timber Queenslander home in Highgate Hill after being alerted by neighbours. Picture: Matthew Johnston

The occupants, elderly siblings Christine and Daniel McAlorum, escaped the inferno thanks to quick-thinking hero neighbours who woke them as the house burned.

“We were asleep, and next thing we were being woken up by a young man named John,” Ms McAlorum said.

“We think he heard the children next door shouting when they saw the fire so he has run up the stairs and broken the door down, then gone in to get us.

“The children were banging on the windows as well, they were all trying to get us to get out.”

The siblings had lived in the house for more than 50 years. Picture: Liam Kidston

The siblings’ bedrooms are both located at the front of the house, a fact they also credited for saving their lives.

“The fire was worse at the back and that’s where they think it started, so we were right at the front and able to get out,” Mr McAlorum said.

Ms McAlorum said the first moments of the fire were the most frightening because she couldn’t find her brother.

“I was shouting out for him once I was woken up and I couldn’t hear him, and John put out his hand and took me outside and we all made it out eventually,” she said.

The fire Saturday night. Picture: Matthew Johnston

The two were comforted by neighbours and family on a nearby footpath while crews battled the fire. They were wearing only what they’d been wearing when they escaped and were wrapped in blankets.

It is understood the blaze was brought under control by 11.15pm.

Fire Scene Commander, Chris Daniel, said the siblings were incredibly lucky to escape without injury.

“If it wasn’t for the actions of that neighbour who woke them up it could have been much worse,” he said.

“We’re still investigating how the fire started, we don’t know yet.”

The siblings’ extended family were unable to confirm if the home had been fitted with smoke alarms.

“That is certainly something we’ll look into but the house is about 70-80 per cent seriously damaged so we won’t be able to confirm that for a while,” Comm Daniel said.

Neighbours say the McAlorum siblings had lived in the Highgate Hill residence for more than 50 years.

They said it had been the family home they lived in as children, with one of their brothers then moving into the house next to them.

Nearby residents also said they weren’t able to hear smoke alarms but were notified to the fire by the sirens and lights of emergency vehicles.

In one piece of slight good news, fire crews were able to save a number of belongings including photo albums, which Ms McAlorum said contained years worth of family memories.