Australia Day blaze claims family home in Lismore Heights

A long-awaited night off from five kids quickly turned to tragedy for a couple when they woke to the sound of hissing gas in the early hours of Australia Day before their family home burst into flames.

Daniel and Gemma O'Brien with the shards of what's left of their family home after a blaze tore through their house on Sunday. Picture: Luke Kane

A long-awaited night off from five kids quickly turned to tragedy for a Lismore couple when they woke to the sound of a hissing gas bottle in the early hours of Australia Day before their family home burst into flames.

Emergency services were called to Bellevue Ave at 7am on Sunday after the raging fire took hold at the weatherboard home, which had been in O’Brien family for generations.

Multiple fire crews worked for hours to extinguish the blaze, leaving the family with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Daniel O’Brien and his wife Gemma fled the inferno after attempts to extinguish it with a sole fire extinguisher failed and the fire got “very big, very fast”.

Everything was lost in the inferno. Picture: Luke Kane

Ms O’Brien described hearing a “hissing” gas bottle before the home burst into flames.

“We ran outside to where we heard the sound in the barbecue area,” she said.

“The gas bottle was hissing and in flames, the string lights above it had caught alight so fast and it was just engulfing the outdoor heater and rising to the roof.

“Daniel was trying to use a fire extinguisher but it wasn’t doing anything.

“We literally just had to watch the house burn down.”

A car was destroyed in the blaze. Picture: Luke Kane.

Fire crews arrived within 10 minutes but by then Ms O’Brien’s car was on fire in the driveway.

“We used six hose lines to extinguish the fire but by the time we were able to the house was destroyed,” a NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman said.

Lismore Fire and Rescue station officer Ian Grimwood said fire crews had difficulty accessing water due to blocked road hydrants causing low water pressure.

Investigations into the cause of the fire and the hydrant issues are still being investigated.

“The pressure in the hydrants wasn’t great but they were able to protect the houses next door,” Mr Grimwood said.

Multiple fire crews had to use their own on-board water then source more elsewhere due to blocked local hydrants.

The historical family home of the O'Brien family before it burned to the ground on Australia Day, 2025. Picture: Supplied.

Luke Kane, Mr O’Brien’s cousin, said the historic home had been in the family since 1964.

“It’s where my grandparents lived, where my mother grew up and where Dan and I would spend our childhood, now it has been passed to Daniel and he lived there with his beautiful family,” Mr Kane said.

“I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now but am trying to hold it together to sort the immediate priorities, ensuring Dan and his family have a roof over their head and somewhere to sleep.

“I really feel for the kids.”

Fire has destroyed a house on Bellevue Ave in Lismore Heights on Sunday, leaving a family of seven with just the clothes on their backs. Picture: Luke Kane

Mr Kane said Daniel escaped the inferno with the family, the dog and “that’s it”.

“He has nothing. All the phones and IDs were lost in the fire.

“They have insurance but there are major concerns about what will be covered and what will not. The likelihood of asbestos in the roof is high and that can come with significant demolition and rebuild costs.”

The blaze is not being treated as suspicious.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.

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Originally published as Australia Day blaze claims family home in Lismore Heights