Multiple emergency crews called to unit fire at Sullivan St Emerald

A mother says she is ‘overwhelmed by the kindness’ of her community after her family lost everything they owned, including one beloved pet, after a fire tore through a unit in Central Queensland.

A family who lost everything in a unit fire at Emerald on Tuesday afternoon.

A mother says she is “overwhelmed by the kindness” of her community after her family lost everything they owned, including one beloved pet, after a fire tore through a unit in Emerald on Tuesday afternoon.

Emergency crews were called to the incident on Sullivan St about 12.30pm, with six fire crews tasked to put out the flames.

A GoFundMe page has since been started by Shevaughn Frousheger to raise money for her sisters Rhiannon and Courtney and her niece Alilia, who “will have to start again” after losing everything.

The family was thankfully not home at the time of the fire, according to the fundraising page.

Emergency crews were called to the incident on Sullivan St, Emerald, with six fire crews tasked to put out the flames.

Speaking to The Morning Bulletin on Thursday, Courtney Brown said one of their two cats, Lilah, had sadly died inside the home from smoke inhalation.

Ms Brown said their other cat, Pogo, was still missing.

“Because we haven’t gotten confirmation, we are still coming back and checking,” she said.

“I’m still kind of not processing anything right now. That was my little baby.

“We did fear that because they are inside cats and unless someone let them out they would have been stuck in there.”

Ms Brown said she couldn’t even describe the damage to the property, which was also occupied by her mother Sheree.

“Half the home is not even here, it’s just gone,” she said.

“And the rest is completely gutted with fire.

“There’s just nothing.

“We are not even allowed to go in.”

Heartbreakingly, the fire also happened the day before Alilia’s 13th birthday.

“It was the most horrible timing,” Ms Brown said.

The GoFundMe campaign had raised $7375 as of Friday.

Damage to the property on Sullivan St, Emerald.

Ms Brown thanked her community, saying she was “in tears all the time by how kind everyone is”.

“Every time I go out anywhere someone stops me, they want to give us things,” she said.

“We are absolutely overwhelmed by the kindness.

“This community is amazing.

“Thank you to everyone who has donated and anyone who has offered anything. It’s just incredible.”

A QFES spokeswoman said when crews arrived on scene, one of the units, which was part of a two-storey structure, was “well involved” before fire spread to the unit above.

She said the second unit had sustained “extensive damage”.

Another low-set duplex next to the first had sustained some damage from fire exposure.

The only other resident of the first unit evacuated after smoke alarms alerted them to the fire.

It is understood the fire began outside the duplex, with firefighters investigating a potential electrical fault.

On Friday, a QFES spokesman said the fire appeared to have started from an air conditioner unit outside one of the units.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Ambulance Service said they assessed one person on scene who declined transport to hospital and paramedics remained on standby for fire crews.

Two police crews also attended the incident.

If you would like to help the family you can visit the GoFundMe campaign page.

Originally published as Multiple emergency crews called to unit fire at Sullivan St Emerald