South Mackay home gutted in early morning fire

It was about 3am when a woman’s three-year-old pup woke her, likely saving her life, as a devastating fire spread quickly throughout her home. WATCH THE VIDEO

It was about 3am when Jacky Thomas’s three-year-old pup woke her up and likely saved her life as a devastating fire spread quickly throughout her South Mackay home.

The 50 year old said she initially pushed her South African mastiff named Dibby away but he kept barking early Saturday morning.

“So I woke up, heard the commotion upstairs and yelled out what’s going on,” she said.

South Mackay’s Jacky Thomas woke to her home on fire in the early hours of June 24.

Ms Thomas then heard her housemate yell “fire, help”.

“I went up the backstairs and seen that the house was alight,” she said.

“I screamed at him to get out the house.”

Ms Thomas said it felt like it was only minutes for the fire to engulf the two storey, three bedroom home on McIntyre St destroying about 90 per cent of the property and all their possessions.

All her possession were destroyed and now Ms Thomas, her dog Dibby and her housemate are homeless.

“Nothing can be salvaged out of it,” she said.

The fire began, she said, in her housemate’s room where it is believed a heater melted a plastic chair and ignited the carpet.

She said he woke up to smoke alarms going off and raced to get water but the fire was “growing quicker than he could put it out”.

Ms Thomas said she and her housemate had rented the property for six months and she could do nothing but watch as all her treasured possessions including jewellery from her mother who passed away and family photos burned.

“I couldn’t believe how fast it was raging through the house,” she said.

“It felt like it was only a minute or two and it was engulfed.”

Ms Thomas said the community generosity in her time of need had been overwhelming.

Ms Thomas said she did not want to think what may have happened if she had not listened to her dog.

“He’s a smart dog … he wouldn’t continuously bark at me if there wasn’t something wrong,” she said.

“He’s my best mate … my hero.”

She says her dog Dibby was her hero after he alerted her to the fire.

She was currently staying with a friend as there were no motels available at the moment as she pieces her life back together. She said the community, which had donated clothing and household items, had been so supportive.

“Their generosity is just overwhelming,” Ms Thomas said.

She had even had offers for furniture but unfortunately had nowhere to live.

“We’re trying to get a rental property … if we can get help,” she said.