Nine crews battle nursing home fire on Brisbane’s bayside; hero workers get everyone out

A Brisbane nursing home has revealed what’s needed for residents after fire gutted the facility. It comes as neighbours reveal the ferocity of the blaze.

Fire authorities have credited the actions of quick-thinking staff at a Brisbane nursing home after everyone made it out alive and uninjured.

All 28 residents and their carers of Bayside Lodge at Lota were able to escape the blaze after alarms were activated at 7.15pm Saturday.

The facility’s proprietor Joanne Tomada said the 28 evacuated residents were safe and well but were still in shock after losing everything.

Ms Tomada said the organisation had found temporary accommodation for the residents but were unsure of what the long-term plans would be.

“It’s too early to say whether we will be back,” Ms Tomada said.

“It’s horrific. I can’t really describe it.

Flames from the Lota fire seen from Wellington Point.

“We are trying to keep people together with everything they know. Some of them have been here for a long time. It’s like a family.”

Ms Tomada said the residents were in desperate need of community help.

“Anything anybody has to offer, the basics, toiletries, pillows, bedding, quilts, if we could open up a short term place too,” she said.

“At the moment they have beds.”

Lota resident of more than 40 years Barry Moore said the “massive” bang sounded like a gas bottle exploding.

“The smoke was the worst part. It was shocking,” Mr Moore said.

“It was one hell of a bang.”

According to its website, Bayside Lodge is a residential aged care service from NDIS carers which “caters to people who need support with daily living yet treasure their independence”.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters identified smoke issuing from the building and called for reinforcements, making for a total of nine QFES crews.

The fire at Brisbane’s Bayside Lodge nursing home on Saturday night.

QFES Station Officer David Beutel revealed that crews were already on their way to the bayside facility when the first triple-0 call was received as smoke detectors in the building had alerted them to the danger.

“When we arrived the western end of the lodge was well involved in fire,” he said.

“Our initial concern was to make sure that everybody was evacuated from The Lodge.”

Mr Beutel said that evacuating the 28 residents from the facility was made easier by a quick thinking and responsive staff.

“Well done to the staff on site, they were able to get a lot of people out of harm's way.”

“A situation like this, our main hazard is the number of occupants that may have disabilities and difficulty walking.”

“Smoke alarms save lives, have an evacuation plan, and that’s what has worked so well here, these staff knew what to do and got everyone out.”

He said that there was significant damage to the building’s roof structure, with as much as 75 per cent of the building “severely damaged.”

“At this stage it is still too early to know what the cause was,” Mr Beutel said.

“The crews on scene did a fantastic job protecting the rest of the building.”

Fire investigators were seen inspecting the entrance to the building, but a supervisor said that it "would be some time" before a cause will be identified.

Crews were seen bringing possessions out of the home for some residents, who were moved to a nearby footpath while firefighters battled the blaze until about 9pm.

A number of those residents are thought to have been left with just the clothes on their back, while several were huddled wearing pyjamas, some without shoes or warm clothing.

Many were able to contact family but one elderly lady said she had no idea what lay ahead on Saturday night.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.

“I didn’t even get shoes.”

A nursing home manager told The Courier-Mail that some of the residents would be collected by family, while others would be rehomed in nearby facilities.

“I’ve been here 10 years and nothing has ever happened,” she said.

“We’re working through what we’re going to do now. Some people have gone with family and we will look after the others.”

Another worker said that there were fears for a number of cats owned by residents.

Several patients had recently tested positive to Covid-19, with staff working to keep them isolated from other residents.

Staff from the facility were able to get an up close look at the damage.