The top 10 areas firefighters are being called to in QLD

QUEENSLAND firefighters have had a busy year, rushing to more than 1800 house fires across the state over the past 12 months. Here are the top 10 communities most vulnerable to house fires.

Queensland firefighters have responded to more than 1800 house fires over the past 12 months.

QUEENSLAND firefighters have had a busy year, rushing to more than 1800 house fires across the state over the past 12 months.

Figures, released by Queensland Fire and Emergency Service, showed there were 1818 call-outs from July 2017 to June 2018.

Logan recorded the highest number of house fires in the state with 132 followed by Gold Coast North command with 111.

Authorities said it was a sobering situation they were desperately trying to turn around.

“That is not a proud badge to wear for us,” QFES area commander Robert Bloss said.

Mr Bloss said he believed the reasons the numbers were so high in Logan were socio-economic and cultural.

Two of the suburbs with the most house fires, Kingston and Marsden, had the highest average of people living under one roof.

QFES area commander Robert Bloss. Picture: Scott Fletcher

Census data from 2016 showed 16 per cent of residents spoke a language other than English in their households.

Mr Bloss said delivering safety messages was also difficult in Logan when only 80 per cent of houses had access to the internet.

Carol Raymond, 56, knows first hand the devastation a fire can bring to someone’s life.

In August last year, she and her partner had been renovating their Logan Central home and had taken their smoke alarms down so they could sand the ceiling.

Logan Central house fire victim Carol Raymond.

She said the fire took hold at 4am and they only got out because her partner’s daughter, who was visiting, woke up.

“We smelled nothing, we heard nothing,” Ms Raymond said.

“If she hadn’t of woken us up we probably would have never woken up.”

Ms Raymond said without the help of Logan crusader Louie Naumovski, they would have been lost.

Louie Naumovski, pictured with his wife Christine, worked as a car yard manager before starting LHFSN.

Mr Naumovski and his wife Christine founded the Logan House Fire Support Network in 2011 after 11 people died in a house fire in Slacks Creek.

“That shook everyone,” he said.

“How could 11 people die in one house fire?”

The victims of the fatal 2011 Slacks Creek house fire.

Since then he has attended thousands of fires and helped countless families pick up the remnants of their lives.

Mr Naumovski would like to see the state government allocate more money to QFES for advertising safety messages and more community safety meetings.

He also put the onus on every resident to keep themselves safe.

“We’ve got to be more aware of our surroundings in our own home,” he said.

“Practise your fire escape plan, don’t stop looking while you’re cooking and check your fire alarms monthly.”