As the small Tablelands town of Ravenshoe marks a decade since its deadliest tragedy, another disaster has struck, with longtime firefighter Rob Doyle losing his home and belongings in a blaze.

Mr Doyle received a Commissioner’s Commendation for Notable Action for his response to the cafe explosion on June 9, 2015.

The fire has reopened emotional wounds for many in the remote town, with witnesses describing how seeing flames and emergency vehicles racing through town triggered vivid flashbacks of the traumatic day.

Two people, Nicole Nyholt, 37, and Margaret Clark, 82, were killed in the cafe blast, while up to 20 others were injured.

Mr Doyle is undergoing cancer treatment and was away from home receiving medical care when the fire started.

“It’s one of those random things in the universe where all the ducks have got to line up for something like that to happen,” Mr Doyle said.

Tablelands resident Nicola Baker who is also organising a community fundraiser for Mr Doyle said the fire happened at a time where people in the town are already feeling on edge.

“It’s a really sad time,” she said.

“We’re coming up to the 10th anniversary so people are already thinking about what happened in the explosion, and now this.”

The Café Explosion

On June 9, 2015, a catastrophic chain of events unfolded when Brian Scutt, suffering an epileptic seizure, crashed his 1994 Toyota LandCruiser into the Serves You Right Café on Grigg Street at Ravenshoe.

The collision ruptured a 180kg LPG gas cylinder at the rear of the building.

Mr Doyle said it was incredibly unfortunate Mr Scutt’s car jumped three gutters and clipped a number of trees and a power pole before it crashed through a fence.

None of those obstacles stopped the vehicle.

“He managed to hit the gas cylinder with his bull bar and put a gash in it,” Mr Doyle said.

An explosion witnesses described as a huge fireball followed, shaking the building.

A streak of bright light reportedly flashed as a booming sound echoed through the town.

Mr Doyle was supposed to be having lunch at the cafe that day, but had knocked back the invitation because he was working.

Instead, he was at the fire station when the cafe exploded.

“It was right on lunchtime so the place was pretty well packed,” he said.

“I had to go in there on my own, which is sort of breaking protocol, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

According to inquest findings and Mr Doyle’s first-hand account, the collision caused the gas cylinder to rupture.

“It was about 10mm thick steel,” Mr Doyle said.

“The cylinder was about half full, so there’s 90kg of liquid in the cylinder.

“One kilogram of liquid makes 270 litres of gas, and then you’ve got to dilute it to between two and 10 per cent to get it to ignite.”

The liquid from the cylinder leaked out, turned into gas, and spread through the air.

When this gas mixture reached the hot stove in the kitchen, it ignited, causing an explosion with temperatures reportedly reaching between 1200 and 2000 degrees celsius.

“We were kind of fortunate it had a very close ignition source because it probably ignited right on its limit and blew itself out,” Mr Doyle said.

“If it had been able to expand further, I think there would have been a much larger explosion.”

The Aftermath

Up to 20 people inside the cafe at the time sustained burns of varying degrees.

Mother of two, Nicole Nyholt, 37, and Margaret Louisa Clark, 82, both sustained horrific burns and later died from their injuries at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on June 12 and June 14 respectively.

“I was talking to Margaret just before they all went down to lunch,” Mr Doyle said.

“She was just recovering from a hip operation and she was very proud of these thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles she was putting together. She was a nice old lady.”

Mr Doyle said there were about 18 people who got shuffled around to hospitals all over the country.

“It was one of the biggest airlifts they’ve had in Queensland.”
The site where the cafe once stood is now a covered area next to the bakery.

The Driver

Inquest finding delivered on June 26, 2020, revealed Mr Scutt had a documented history of seizures dating back to 2004.

Despite being advised by doctors not to drive on multiple occasions in 2004, 2009, and 2014, he continued to get behind the wheel.

Investigations found he had made false declarations regarding his seizure history on driver’s licence renewal applications.

In the months leading up to the accident, Mr Scutt, then 60, experienced a noticeable deterioration in both his physical and mental health, including increased “seizure-like” activity, paranoia, and suicidal ideations.

Mr Scutt survived the collision and explosion.

He was subsequently charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death or grievous bodily harm (two counts) and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

On September 7, 2018, the Mental Health Court found that while Mr Scutt was mentally sound when the alleged incidents occurred, he was permanently unfit to stand trial due to his condition.

All criminal charges against him were dropped on November 28, 2018, under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Scutt later died on August 1, 2019, from aspiration pneumonia resulting from epilepsy.

As Ravenshoe prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of its darkest day, the community now rallies once more — this time around one of its own heroes who has lost everything in another cruel twist of fate.

emma.cam@news.com.au