Faces of those who died in year of house fire horrors in Logan
These are the faces that fireys will remember after a year of house fire horrors which killed 17 across the state, four in Logan. SEE THE TIMELINE
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These are the faces that fireys will remember after a year of house fire horrors which killed 17 across the state and devastated four Logan families.
Truckie Michael Luck died when fire ripped through his Woodridge home just after midnight on September 27.
The 62-year-old father-of-two could not escape the blaze which broke out in the two-storey house in Nyanza St.
Seven weeks later and less than 4km away, Laurel-Anne Chapman died on November 12, when her unit in Ewing Rd, Logan Central caught fire.
She was known as a loving mother to Karen, Michelle and Wayne and nanna to Kellie Chapman.
Doreen Langham and her ex-partner Gary Hely both died when fire gutted a house in Moyla St, Browns Plains on February 22.
Police believed the blaze was deliberately lit and found the bodies in the rubble.
Ms Langham made an emergency call to triple-0 some time after 9pm the night before the fire and is understood she said she heard noises outside her home.
Shortly before 4am, fire engulfed the home, with neighbours claiming they heard a woman shouting a man’s name.
Fireys were called to 1733 house fires across Queensland since July last year with 141 of those in Logan.
Since January this year, 12 people have died in house fires and sadly, five of those in the past three months, when there has been a massive 443 calls for help across Queensland.
Most were from Brisbane households, which made 156 phone calls to fireys since April, compared to 52 from the Gold Coast, 35 from Logan, 25 from Ipswich and seven from the Lockyer Valley.
Smoking in bed has been blamed for some of the blazes with more than 11 per cent of the 443 fires since April believed to have started in bedrooms.
But the biggest hazard room was the kitchen where 44 per cent of house fires across the state started. In Logan, the kitchen was where 39 per cent of house fires started last year.
Logan House Fire Support Network’s Louie Naumovski said the number of deaths from house fires in Logan was of concern.
“The startling part of these statistics is the death toll because there has been a drop in the number of house fires but not in the number of deaths,” he said.
“There have been 12 deaths in the state in the past six months and Logan has had four people die in the past 12 months.
“It’s hard to determine what starts fires because usually much of the evidence is burnt but we assume that some people are smoking in bed.
“Others leave things cooking on the stove and that contributed to 51 per cent of the most recent house fires.”
July 9, 2020: A woman was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation after fire destroyed her Trailblazer Dr, Flagstone house just before 1.15pm. Two family cats died but the dog survived. Logan House Fire Support Network helped the family.
July 3, 2020: A house in Little St, Goodna was destroyed after fire ripped through the property just after 12.20am. All escaped unharmed but police remained on scene guarding the premises until investigators arrived in daylight hours to determine the cause. Occupants were staying with neighbours.
June 13: The single occupant of a house in Poinciana Crescent, Bundall escaped uninjured and was helped by Logan House Fire support Network after the house was destroyed.
June 10: A man and a woman were in bed when a fire broke out in units in Jacaranda Ave, Kingston. All occupants of adjoining units moved out for the night due to power loss. Police remained on scene guarding the premises until fire investigators arrived.
June 6: (non-house fire blaze) A crime scene was established after a massive fire gutted a shopping centre on Carl Heck Boulevard, Windaroo, south of Brisbane burning through a chemist, bakery and barber shop just after 10.30pm.
June 2: Multiple house fires at Merthyr Rd, New Farm and King St, Kuraby. A man was taken to hospital in a serious condition with burns and smoke inhalation from the New Farm fire.
May 31: Tenants were helped after a fire broke out in a unit in Blackwood Rd, Logan Central, just before 4.55am. A unit was extensively damaged and power cut to all other units.
May 28: A woman was checked for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in Jasmine Cres, Shailer Park just before 7.30pm. All were accounted for and multiple emergency services were on the scene.
April 29: Emergency accommodation was found for a mother and her four kids who all escaped safely after a fire broke out in Ballymore Court, Underwood just after 10.20am. The two-storey dwelling was destroyed.
April 27: Fire at Conifer St, Hillcrest, was contained quickly after it broke out just after 7.45am. The kitchen area was destroyed. All were accounted for.
April 26: A man was taken to hospital as a precaution after fire broke out in Homestead St, Marsden just after 3pm.
April 21: All escaped unharmed after fireys quickly contained the blaze at Barossa St, Kingston, which broke out just after 5.45pm.
FATALITY: April 9: A sad day with three house fires at Harvey St, North Lakes at 10.20am, in which a person died. At Rowena Court, Boronia Heights all escaped after a fire started just after 6pm with another starting after 9.45pm at Flinders Dr, Leichhardt, which destroyed the house.
April 5: Neighbours were allowed back to their premises after a fire at Albert St, Logan Central broke out just after 1.15am.
FATALITY: March 30: A woman died in the house in Rowe Tce, Darra after a fire broke out after 11.30pm. Police are investigating. A member of the public was treated for smoke inhalation after attempting to assist at the scene before emergency services arrived. A crime scene was declared while investigators determined the cause.
March 15: All escaped unharmed after a fire broke out in a house at Thrush St, Inala, just before 8pm.
March 11: A man was taken to hospital after receiving significant burns, and a woman and her daughter were also treated for smoke inhalation after fire ripped through their home in Fairweather St, Berrinba just before 11.45pm. Logan House Fire Support Network helped the family move.
March 5: A patient was taken to hospital with minor burns to their hands after fire burned through a bedroom at Monash Rd, Loganlea just after 8am.
March 5: All were accounted for but one person was taken to hospital with significant burns and in a critical condition after a fire ripped through a property in Moffatt Rd, Waterford West, just after 8.45am.
FATALITIES: February 22: The bodies of Doreen Langham and Gary Hely, both aged 49, were found in the ruins of a property at Myola St, Browns Plains after a fire started just before 4am. Heavy machinery was brought in for the search
February 14: All occupants were accounted for after a fire started at Fryar Rd, Eagleby just before 12.30pm. The matter was with Fire Investigators to determine the cause and in the hands of police.
February 13: A house in Grandview Rd, Jimboomba, was extensively damaged after fire broke out before 7pm.
January 23: Emergency accommodation was provided for a family whose house in Bromley St, Cornubia, was destroyed just after 7pm. The family was in shock but relieved nobody was injured. A collection point for the family was made at George’s Grill, Seafood & Burgers at Cornubia Shopping Centre, Corner of Bryant’s Road & Redland Bay Road, Loganholme.
December 24, 2020: All escaped uninjured but the house in Mount Cotton Rd, Burbank, was destroyed.
December 4, 2020: Emergency accommodation was found for a family who lost two cats when fire ripped through their Williamson Rd, Tamborine, property just after 10.30am. Fire officers had to deal with the blaze with a lack of water supply on the rural property.
December 1, 2020: Emergency accommodation was arranged for the family of the property in School Rd, Logan Reserve, after fire broke out just after 2.20pm. No occupants were home at the time of the blaze. Occupants were in shock when they arrived on scene.
November 19, 2020: The Logan community banded together to assist a family of 11 with clothes, shoes and food, after fire decimated their Jacaranda Ave, home at Logan Central just after 9.30am. Sadly they lost their dog, a one-year-old black-and-white chihuahua. Logan House Fire Support Network found the large family temporary emergency accommodation.
All were safe but in shock while quick-thinking neighbours assisted.The family lost all of their possessions in the blaze. The incident was also notable after a passer-by who stopped to help had her purse stolen.
November 15, 2020: Accommodation was found for the occupant of a house at Cognac Court, Kingston, which was gutted after a fire started at 11.35pm.
November 12, 2020: emergency services attended a house fire at Peverell St, Hillcrest, which was an abandoned property
November 12, 2020: A unit and a garage were damaged when a fire started at Defiance Rd, Logan Central just after 1pm.
FATALITY: November 12, 2020: Laurel-Anne Chapman, the single occupant of a unit in Ewing Rd, Woodridge, died when the unit caught fire. No other people were involved. Power was knocked out in a section of the road and the units. All other occupants were accounted for.
November 9, 2020: Arlington St, Underwood, was closed off after a fire broke out just after 9pm. Nobody was injured but the house was extensively damaged.
November 1, 2020: Nobody was injured when a fire gutted a house in Sylvia St, Underwood just after 9.35pm.
November 1, 2020: A unit in Mayes Ave was destroyed and an adjoining unit had minor damage after a fire started just after 5.45pm. Logan House Fire Support Network found accommodation for occupants.
October 30, 2020: a house in Browns Plains Rd, Crestmead, was gutted when fire broke out just before 12.40pm.
October 30, 2020 A unit in Blessing Place, Boronia Heights was damaged after a fire broke out just before 7pm. All occupants were accounted for after the first started in the laundry and was quickly extinguished. Smoke and water damage were recorded.
October 20, 2020: A house in Vennor Dr, Ormeau, was gutted but all occupants escaped uninjured after a fire broke out just before 9.35am.
October 16, 2020: Nobody was injured when a fire broke out in the laundry of a Melbury St house in Browns Plains just before 12pm.
October 14, 2020: All occupants were accounted for when a fire broke out in a laundry of a house in Clarence St, Waterford West in the morning. It is believed the fire started from lint in the dryer.
September 30, 2020:Power was cut to Defiance Rd, Logan Central, after two units were destroyed and another two damaged when fire broke out just after 3pm.
FATALITY: September 27, 2020: Truckie Michael Luck died when fire broke out in Nyanza St, Woodridge just after midnight. The road was closed and it took more than an hour to bring the blaze under control. A woman occupant was also accounted for and checked over by medics. Significant smoke billowed across the area and residents were told to shut windows and doors.
July 18, 2020: A family escaped along with their three dogs after fire ripped through Sinclair Place, Beenleigh, just after midday. A woman was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital with burns to her foot and hand.
July 13, 2020: a unit in Martens St, Mount Warren Park, was destroyed along with six garages when fire broke out just after 10.30pm. A man was taken to hospital with mild smoke inhalation and a woman was taken to hospital suffering shock.
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