Mother is killed in a horror house fire after a freak accident in her Sarina home near Mackay – as brave son suffers burns trying to save her
A man has been rushed to hospital with ‘significant’ burns to his upper body after trying to save his elderly mother from a horrific house fire that claimed her life.
Multiple emergency services rushed to the Kathleen St property in Sarina, south of Mackay in central Queensland, about 4.25pm on Sunday and found the two-storey house fully engulfed in flames.
It is understood the fire was started by an oil leak in the kitchen, which caught the entire second floor on fire before quickly engulfing the rest of the house.
Neighbors were alerted by the sound of exploding windows and quickly ran outside.
Several people tried to extinguish the flames with garden hoses until firefighters arrived.
‘Luckily the first floor is a concrete floor so nothing could ignite down there, but the whole top floor is plasterboard, wood and asbestos which is still burning but once it got going it couldn’t be stopped from then on stop,” Timothy Parker said. the Courier mail.
He added that emergency services arrived on the scene ‘damn quickly’.
The body of the 71-year-old woman was found in the gutted house after the fire was extinguished.
Firefighters were called to a house fire in Sarina, near Mackay, on Sunday (stock image)
The fire tragically claimed the life of a 71-year-old woman. The photo shows the house
The woman’s son suffered ‘significant’ burns to his hands as he tried to fight the blaze and save his mother.
“We did as much as we could,” Mr Parker said.
The injured man, aged in his 40s, was taken to Mackay Hospital.
Two firefighters were also taken to hospital with minor injuries.
A fire investigator is expected to arrive on site on Monday.
“A crime scene has been declared and the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing,” a police statement said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
The home last sold for $203,000 in 2009, according to property records.