Fire destroys bayside home on New Year’s Eve, killing family pets
“At the stroke of midnight we were just watching the house burn down.”
Smoke lingers in the air, and a little boy’s wails cut through the silence.
“My birds. No. I want them back. I want my birds back.”
The primary-school-aged boy was home when the fire broke out about 9.30pm on New Year’s Eve, and he managed to carry one of his birds outside. But the family dogs and the boy’s other beloved birds are gone.
A little boy clings to his pet bird outside his burnt-out home in Margate.Credit: Dominique Tassell
On New Year’s Day, his family returned to the burnt-out shell of their Duffield Street rental in Margate, a half-hour drive north-east of Brisbane in Moreton Bay.
The boy stood outside, clutching his bird and calling for his dead pets.
The family did not have home and contents insurance, so entered the new year with nowhere to live and no belongings.
His mother was inside what was left of the house, checking on the cats. Two were accounted for, but one went missing in the chaos of the fire.
A young woman carries her cat from the remains of her burnt-out home after discovering him alive hours after the fire.Credit: Dominique Tassell
The boy tried to join her, but she wanted to shield him from anything she might find, so he stayed wrapped up in a family friend’s arms outside.
Her cries for their pets joined his – but then, 10 minutes later, she emerged swaddling a cat.
It was out the back and, as if by a miracle, had survived. The family’s pet carriers were destroyed in the fire, so they waited outside for someone to bring one so they could get the cat checked over by a vet.
A home on Duffield Street in Margate went up in flames on New Year’s Eve.Credit: Dominique Tassell
Family friend Marissa said the cat probably ran off during the fire and returned after it was extinguished.
Marissa was with the mother when she got the call the house was on fire, and immediately drove to the Margate home.
“We were all just huddled on the [traffic] island and at the stroke of midnight we were just watching the house burn down.”
The family knew the fire started underneath the house, but didn’t know what exactly started it.
The house was a crime scene on Thursday morning as fire investigators went through, but that declaration was lifted about midday.
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