10th anniversary of fatal Serves You Right cafe explosion

It begun as an ordinary day in a quiet country town, but by days’ end Nicola Baker was comforting her severely burnt friend who later died from an explosion that injured up to 20 others.

A decade on from a tragic cafe fire which claimed two lives, including Nicole Dempsey (pictured) and Margaret Clarke, the Ravenshoe community has banded together to help a volunteer firefighter after his home burned in a devastating blaze.

It begun as an ordinary day in a quiet country town, but by days’ end Nicola Baker was comforting her severely burnt friend who later died from an explosion that injured up to 20 others.

On June 9, 2015, a car crashed into Serves You Right cafe on Grigg St, puncturing a 450kg gas cylinder which ignited a fire that engulfed the building.

It claimed the lives of two women — mother-of-two Nicole Dempsey (nee Nyholt) and Margaret Clarke.

Nicole Dempsey, pictured with husband Shane, was managing the Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe when a ute crashed into the rear wall of the building, causing a large gas explosion.

Ms Baker had been working in an office nearby when she heard a loud bang, and received a call from a journalist friend, asking her to take photos.

“He said someone had rolled their car into the bakery, which happens sometimes when someone’s left the handbrake off, and I didn’t even connect the two,” she said.

“He said go get me a photo, so because it was wet, I jumped in my car and drove around the corner and I could see the cars and just this black smoke coming up out of the cafe.”

With the gravity of the situation dawning, Ms Baker tried calling Ms Dempsey to make sure she was OK.

“She wasn’t answering, so I was running down, looking for her, and there were people on the grass and so many ambulances there by that point,” she said.

The Serves You Right Cafe in Ravenshoe after a gas explosion destroyed it, leaving 18 injured and Nicole Dempsey and Margaret Clark dead. A woman walks past the floral tributes laid at the front of the cafe. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Ms Baker eventually found her at the toilet block where a woman was trying to use a tap to put water on Ms Dempsey’s burns.

“I get there and she’s sitting in a chair, and there’s a lady pushing the press button tap trying to water some of the burns, because her body was badly burned,” she said.

“When she saw me she said, ‘I’m really hurt’ and I could see that she was, so I ran around for a paramedic for her … and we moved her out onto the grass where we sat with her until an ambulance came and got her a bit stable.”

At the time, 21 people were reportedly injured in the blaze, with patients treated at Cairns, Townsville, Atherton and Brisbane hospitals.

Ms Dempsey was transported via helicopter to Townsville hospital, before she was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital burns unit.

Ms Dempsey died of her injuries days later.

Nicola Baker, close friend of Serves You Right cafe explosion victim Nicole Dempsey and one of the first on scene. Picture: Mark Calleja

“It was just a normal day. She went to work, as did Noelene who was also badly injured. Margaret Clark was in there and she died as well,” Ms Baker said.

“It was just an ordinary day in a quiet country town.”

Ms Baker said the community would not commemorate the 10th anniversary of the cafe fire.

“It was a dreadful mark in our history,” she said.

“We’re quite happy just getting on with it, just remembering who we lost and going day by day.”

It comes days after volunteer firefighter Rob Doyle’s Grigg St home burned down while he underwent cancer treatment.

Mr Doyle received an award for his efforts fighting the explosion 10 years ago.

“I was struggling with a bit of the PTSD, as did a lot of people in town after that fire, and I said, you know what? You’ve got something to do, you can get up and do something nice for Rob,” she said.

Ms Baker and other Ravenshoe residents have begun fundraising to help Mr Doyle, including organising a sausage sizzle.

“Nic is the voice in my ear that says, this is what you need to do today … and it’s something that I find really soothing in terms of, you can go through a lot, but if you feel like you can still do something in their honour, they live on.”

The vehicle’s driver Brian Scutt died in 2019, a month after an inquest into the cafe explosion was delayed to 2020.

Originally published as 10th anniversary of fatal Serves You Right cafe explosion