Kalkie family tell of evacuation from the Lindsay Brothers Transport depot fire

A Bundaberg family has retold the chaotic moments after a truck depot burst into flames with explosions going off ‘every 15 to 20 seconds’, causing a mass evacuation.

Kresten Ramage was working in his office at home in Zielke Ave on Thursday, March 23 – a warm early Autumn day that started like any other.

Mr Ramage, 35, runs his own small business – a building company, Ramage Building – and was busy talking to suppliers.

His wife Danielle, 29, was in the living room with their two children, Jonathan and Riley.

Then an explosion ripped through the air, the beginning of an ordeal that was to turn their life upside down for the next 24 hours.

The Ramage family live directly across from the Lindsay Brothers Transport depot in Kalkie, and the sound they heard was the first of many explosions from the inferno that engulfed the depot on Thursday.

Kresten and Danielle Ramage and their two children, Jonathan and Riley, live directly opposite the Lindsay Brothers Transport depot.

While alarmed at first, Mr Ramage wasn’t overly concerned.

“When it first started there was one explosion and just a bit of smoke,” he said.

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Mr and Mrs Ramage went out to the front of their house, where they could see directly into the yard of the depot.

“And then another explosion went off, and we could hear a funny hissing sound – at that point, we thought, ‘let‘s get the kids out of here’.”

They took their children into the backyard, still thinking that the danger would pass quickly.

But the explosions kept coming.

“Probably every 15 to 20 seconds we felt a small bang or a big bang,” Mr Ramage said.

“It just got bigger and bigger.”

While the thick plume of black smoke starting to rise up over the depot was a concern, Mr Ramage was most worried about the growing force of the explosions.

Dramatic images from around the exclusion zone.

“We didn’t know what commercial grade burners or LPG bottles they might have, so we were concerned more about flying objects,” he said.

“We were just concerned about the kids so we just got them as far away as possible.”

Eventually they decided to leave their property and went into their neighbour’s paddock behind their house.

With the fire continuing to grow and emergency services arriving on the scene – “we could see the commotion growing” – the Ramages carried their children further to safety on nearby Sauers Road.

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There they were met by a police officer who informed them that they weren’t able to remain in the area, or return home.

That was the first Mr Ramage had heard of the exclusion zone had been put in place from a PSPA emergency order at 1.50pm.

“We didn’t get any messages or anything like that – but I guess that’s understandable,” he said.

They were moved on to the corner of Sauers and Gahans Road.

There Mr Ramage called his parents who picked up his family and took them back to their Avenell Heights home to stay for the duration of the emergency order.

Outside of his family, the first offer of accommodation Mr Ramage received that day was from John Begeda, the manager of the Lindsay Brothers Transport depot.

Due to the proximity of his house to the depot, Mr Ramage and Mr Begeda meet regularly had previously exchanged numbers.

Out of concern for Mr Ramage and his family, Mr Begeda called to offer to put them up in a motel.

“John called us last night and asked us if we’re OK, and if we had a motel to stay in – we told him that we were totally fine,” Mr Ramage said.

“John did a really good job, I think he has been on the phone since about three o’clock yesterday afternoon he’s amazing.”

Mr Begeda asked for the numbers of the other residents in the area – Mr Ramage believes that he was going to call them to make the same offer of accommodation.

When approached by NewsMail, Mr Begeda made no comment on the fire other than to confirm that no staff from the depot had been injured.

Lindsay Australia has been approached for comment.

Having left quickly without time to grab any belongings, Mr and Mrs Ramage called authorities to see if they could return home to retrieve their wallets and phone chargers.

“They told us that we couldn’t go back in until the fire brigade cleared it – so we just kept checking and checking,” he said.

Around 10am the following day they received a call informing them that the emergency declaration had been revoked and they could return home.

By that afternoon, life had nearly returned to normal for Mr Ramage and his family – Mr Ramage busier than usual catching up on the calls he wasn’t able to take over the previous 24 hours.

Originally published as Kalkie family tell of evacuation from the Lindsay Brothers Transport depot fire