Garbutt, Townsville: Two teenagers die after suffering horrific burns in suspicious house fire
Two teenagers have died after suffering serious burns in a suspicious house fire in north Queensland, with police investigating.
Emergency services rushed to a two-storey house on Chandler Street in Garbutt, Townsville, after residents spotted smoke around 3pm on Friday.
Two 18-year-old men were rushed to Townsville University Hospital after being rescued from their home by neighbours.
One of the teenagers died overnight, while the second man was flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition.
He passed away on Saturday morning.
Queensland police are treating the fire as suspicious.
South Townsville Fire Chief Stephen Hourn said the flames had not spread to other properties and firefighters spent about an hour extinguishing the fire.
“The home sustained significant fire, smoke and water damage,” he said.
Emergency services rushed to the two-storey house on Chandler Street in Garbutt, Townsville, after residents reported seeing smoke around 3pm on Friday (the house fire is pictured)
A neighbor said he heard “three explosions” before the fire broke out.
Another man said he helped rescue the men from the house.
“It was a full blown inferno… there were a lot of people, fire trucks, police, everything, it was pretty hectic,” he told 7News.
‘I saw the flames coming from the kitchen and then I saw the smoke.’
Anyone with CCTV or video footage of Chandler Street around the time of the fire is being asked by police to come forward.