‘Non-suspicious’ fire guts Bilyana home north of Cardwell

Six fire crews have battled a blaze that gutted a Far North Queensland home while its occupants were away, with the structure partially collapsing during the incident.

A fire that gutted a Bilyana home on Sunday morning on the Bruce Highway has been deemed “accidental and non-suspicious”.

Fire has gutted a home north of Cardwell in a blaze that took six crews 30 minutes to contain.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Fire and Rescue said the timber and block home was “fully-involved” when the first truck arrived at the Bruce Highway address at Bilyana, between Cardwell and Euramo around 8am on Sunday morning.

She said the occupants were not home when the fire started.

“Officers have determined the cause to be accidental and non-suspicious,” she said.

She said six crews, including a rural brigade attended the fire.

The blaze was “controlled” by 8:30am, she said.

“There was a partial collapse of the structure.” she said.

An ambulance crew assessed a man in his 60s at the scene of the fire, who did not require transport to hospital. The house occupants were not home when the fire broke out.

Fire crews were still “damping down” the site three hours after the blaze was extinguished.

Queensland Ambulance Service also attended the house fire, where they assessed one person who did not require transport to hospital.

He said the man in his 60s had arrived at the scene of the fire and ambulance while crews were onsite.

Originally published as ‘Non-suspicious’ fire guts Bilyana home north of Cardwell