On May 21 at 11:30am, Gundagai Fire and Rescue received multiple Triple Zero (000) calls reporting a structure fire by Springflat Drive. On arrival, crews found a single-storey home well alight and immediately began firefighting operations.
Fire and Rescue said efforts were initially hampered by limited access to the town’s water, but with the support of local RFS crews, water was successfully ferried from the nearest hydrant. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the house was unfortunately lost.
Due to working smoke alarms, all residents who were home at the time were able to escape the blaze unharmed.
Andrew Brock attended the scene where he said this serves as a reminder that smoke alarms save lives. “At this point in time, it’s still under investigation due to the working smoke alarms, the owners were able to get out, so it’s a timely reminder for everybody to check their smoke alarms,” he said.
“We are in that time of the year where everyone’s got heating on, however that may be. The 1st of June is basically a New South Wales initiative to save the date to check your smoke alarms.
“Gundagai Fire and Rescue and Gundagai RFS crews got the call to a house fully engulfed in fire. Crews responded with two tankers from Gundagai Fire and Rescue, we had three trucks from RFS and a group officer.
“We arrived to find a brick and metal roof house fully engulfed. The location was 100 metres off the main road on Springflat Drive, and was sort of difficult to get to, but crews jumped straight into breathing apparatus and got to work, getting water on the house. Unfortunately, due to the intensity of the fire, all best efforts failed and we could not save it.
“Make sure that your chimneys are clean before you start lighting your fires in winter. If you don’t have a working smoke alarm, you can get onto the Fire and Rescue app and log in your details and then your local station will organise a visit to install new smoke alarms or change batteries, what-ever’s required. Keep your house clear of buildup of debris and make sure your smoke alarms are operational.
“At any fire, we’re just very grateful that nobody is injured. It is very unfortunate for the homeowners as they had only just purchased the property a couple of weeks ago and they were in the process of moving in. It is a very unfortunate circumstance, but it just goes to show how quickly new materials that homes have, like your carpets, your flooring, all that sort of stuff, you don’t really have much time before it becomes substantial.
“We just want to warn people if they’ve got things on charge, keep an eye on those, make sure things don’t overheat, keep your gutters clear, even though we’re not in bushfire season.
“Make sure you have working smoke alarms and just be aware that if you leave stuff on the hot plates or anything like that, the first call is to triple zero and that way you’ll get crews on the road very quickly.
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