Mackay mum Selina Nicholas loses everything in Andergrove unit fire

A young Mackay mum and her two-year-old son are homeless after an air conditioner caught on fire and quickly tore through their home destroying everything they owned.

A young Mackay mum and her two-year-old son are homeless after a fire tore through their unit and destroyed everything they owned.

Selina Nicholas said she was at the gym in Caneland Central on Saturday when a close friend phoned at 11.40am to say: “You need to get home right now.”

She dashed to Investigator St in Andergrove to discover paramedics, police and firefighters had cordoned off her home.

“The front of the place, it doesn’t look bad so it was a bit deceptive but the whole back of the house is gone, the roof’s collapsed in,” Ms Nicholas said.

“What didn’t collapse in from the flames itself, the fireys had to pull in because it was also unstable.”

Mackay mum Selina Nicholas and her two-year-old son Charlie lost everything they owned when a fire tore through their Andergrove unit on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Picture: Contributed

The mum – who had not long moved into the unit – said between the flames, soot, and water used to fight to fire, all of their belongings were either melted or destroyed.

“I’m trying really hard not to let it affect (Charlie) and act like everything’s normal but yeh, that was the cheapest place I’ve been able to find in the last two years and that’s $400 for a two-bedroom flat so just the stress at the prospect of trying to find another place is pretty devastating,” she said.

She said Charlie, along with his three favourite caterpillar toys, had fortunately been with his dad along when the airconditioning unit in the kitchen caught on fire, adding she was “incredibly grateful” for her quick-thinking neighbours who raced to shoo her cat away from the inferno.

“We lost all our stuff but at the end of the day, nobody was hurt,” Ms Nicholas said.

Young Charlie, 2, was thankfully not home when an inferno tore through the unit he lived in with his mum Selina Nicholas on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Picture: Fergus Gregg/Contributed

Neighbour Justin Grantham, who phoned triple-0 to alert them of the emergency, said he saw smoke spilling out of the chimney.

“I thought it was coming from the back like a bonfire or something,” he said.

“(Then) I saw it coming through the gutters and I thought ‘that’s not normal’ so the ceiling must have been on fire.”

Ms Nicholas said they were now living with her mum while they could get back on her feet and as much as she “hated to ask for a hand”, it would be “wonderful” if the community had goods they wanted to part with to help them on their way.

She said they were also looking for a stable private rental so she could settle her son.

The family is in need of the following items which can be dropped off at White Picket Real Estate, Shop 4, 28 George St, Mackay.

• Kitchen appliances, dinnerware, cutlery, and glasses
• Queen and king-single size linen
• Children’s books
• Size 8-10 women’s clothes
• Furniture including a single or king-single bed frame that is low to the ground suitable for a toddler
• Washing machine, TV and other appliances

Ms Nicholas is also looking for a second-hand Mellow Mat to buy or a similar type of rug. Please phone the real estate on 0407 968 606 if you have something suitable.