The 77-year-old homeowner and her dog were lucky to escape injury and the cause of the fire which badly damaged the Queen Street property, is yet to be determined.
Breaking out just before 12.50pm on Wednesday, April 14, firefighters were able to bring the intense fire under control in less than 20 minutes, however Superintendent Scott Dodson said they had attended multiple house fires in the past week.
“Now is the time for residents to check they have a working smoke alarm and that all members of the family have an awareness of calling Triple Zero (000) in an emergency,” he said.
One neighbour believes the fire began in the kitchen, saying they heard a loud bang from the property before seeing smoke pouring from the roof.
“It was really scary,” she said.
Another neighbour was scathing of the actions of others who filmed the incident and posted the footage online.
Not wanting to be identified, they described the behaviour of some people as “sickening”, and said the busy street was blocked several times which made it harder for firefighters to get to the scene.
“Cars and food delivery bikes were stopping in the street to film it,” they said.
“This woman has lost everything, and that’s all they can think of.”
Neighbouring property owners also told the Torch they were “seriously worried” about asbestos on the site, and urged the council and the insurance company to act quickly to make the area safe and to prevent their own homes from being contaminated.
