EXCLUSIVE: A widow and grandmother has escaped her burning home in Brisbane’s south with just seconds to spare.
Dianne Walsh said brave neighbours ran into the flames, pulling her and her son to safety.
“There was loud explosions, the tyres were going, and then it all happened. The neighbour on the bottom side came and got me and made sure that I was okay,” she said.
” … We’ve got some really good neighbours.”
Walsh, who has lived at the home for 22 years said when the fire caught hold she grabbed what she could.
“USB sticks with the grandchildren’s photos on it, I grabbed what I could of those in the dark,” she said.
With her home destroyed and unliveable Dianne has been left devastated.
‘My husband passed away there in 2008, I’ve raised children and grandchildren (there) … totally devastated, I haven’t slept yet, I just can’t,” she said.
“I’m a diabetic too, all my medication is back at the house as well.”
Her son’s work vehicle was also destroyed.
Queensland Fire Department’s Tom Simpson said the home was unliveable.
“There’s significant water and smoke damage throughout the structure, so currently it’s not liveable,” he said.
Fire crews managed to stop the blaze from spreading to neighbouring homes.
“They were confronted with a weather event at the same time, pushing smoke and flames into the structure,” he said.
It’s understood fire investigators believe the blaze was the result of a mechanical fault in a truck parked in the driveway, which spread to a second vehicle and then the home.
