Queensland woman loses everything in 'suspicious' bushfire

February 12 is a day Sue will never forget.

“I will never forget that date, that’s for sure,” she told 9news.com.au.

It was a sweltering day and Sue wasn’t feeling well so she was lying down in the air conditioning in her bedroom at her Tara home, 300km west of Brisbane, in Queensland’s Western Downs region.

But a short time later her son barged into the house yelling for her to get out as a bushfire was coming.

Sue managed to bundle her six cats, five dogs and elderly father into the car and drove to the town centre as the bushfire was close.

It seemed to be heading away from the home but changed course rapidly.

“The wind shifted and the fire tore towards my place,” she said.

Five minutes later, her home was gone.

“Everything is gone. I only had the clothes on my back and the animals,” she said.

The fire came without warning and the only reason Sue was able to evacuate in time was that her son was outside and spotted the wall of flames surging towards homes.

“Within seconds, it was roaring at us,” she said.

Sue has been left with nothing.

She is crashing on her mum’s couch, had to put her father into an aged care home, and all her animals are staying with a friend.

“I’m all twisted up with emotions inside and I’m on the verge of tears 24/7. I feel so lost at the moment,” she said.

A few days later, Sue went back to the house to assess the damage.

“All that’s left is one little animal pen, three tiny garden sheds and everything else is gone,” she said.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service said more than 1500 hectares were destroyed in the Tara, Montrose and Wieambilla fires – and Sue’s home was one of those impacted.

Sue is devastated that she’s lost generations of family history and photos – treasured memories she can’t get back.

“Those sort of things hurt the most,” she said.

“I got out with my life and I’m grateful but I would give it all back to have what I had,” she said.

“It was something for me to leave the kids.”

Fires investigated as ‘suspicious’: police

Queensland Police are investigating the bushfire as suspicious, leaving Sue furious that the horrifying reality she and many in the Tara community are facing may be the consequences of another person’s choice.

She recalled shaking with rage when she found out about the turn the police investigation had taken at a community meeting.

“How could someone even think to do that? The lives it has destroyed. I can’t get my head around it,” she said.

“Lightning and that, you get it, it happens, but for someone to make that choice.

“Every choice has a consequence and we were the consequence this time.”

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

“Police are continuing to conduct proactive and intelligence lead patrols, and urge anyone who may witness suspicious behaviour to contact police,” Queensland Police said.

Insurance premiums nearly doubled

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Sue had to cancel her home insurance with Suncorp when her premium was raised, nearly doubling her fortnightly costs to $300. 

She believes the increase was linked to the flooding last year in Brisbane and northern NSW, which is 300km from her house.

“I fought black and blue with them that I’m not in a flood zone but they didn’t care,” she said.

“Why are we penalised for other areas?

“If they (the insurance) didn’t do that, I could have kept paying my insurance and I would have had something to fall back on.

“I have nothing and no cover.

“They made it impossible.”

She doesn’t think homes in non-flood zones, or “in the sticks” as she described it, should be impacted by premium rises as insurers face increasing claims in other areas.

“We’re not near a river or anything yet our insurance is hiked up to match a flood zone,” she said.

A Suncorp spokesperson said each insurance policy is determined by an individual address, not a state-wide blanket policy.

“The impact of a rolling series of extreme weather events, rising reinsurance costs and high inflation has required us to adjust the premiums we charge all customers – particularly those in higher risk areas,” the spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

“Our insurance pricing is based on a range of factors, including our assessment of risk at an individual property address, the increasing cost of rebuilding and repairs, and government taxes.”

Sue is left waiting with her community for government grants

Sue is now waiting on approval for a grant to start rebuilding her home and life but this could take months.

“Everybody says there are these big grants out there but it isn’t something we get straight away,” she said.

“People are telling me it takes months and months and months, if not a year, to get this help.”

Despite Sue’s desire to return home and begin rebuilding her life, it is now tainted by the trauma of losing everything and the possibility of another bushfire.

“I will always worry, I shake when I hear a truck or a plane or I see a firetruck,” she said.

“My son is going to clear all my land and I’ll just have my big gum trees.

“I used to keep the bush for my own privacy but I don’t want that now.

‘I need to be able to breathe’

Sue is counting down the days and minutes until a grant is approved so she can move back to the Tara property with her family – her son, daughter and animals.

The value Sue’s animals bring to her life cannot be understated, she said.

The Queenslander puts their welfare before her own, using the little money she could scrape together to buy them beds.

“They (the animals) are what keeps me going. I’ve got to get out there and be there with them,” she said.

Now, she simply wants to go home.

“I need to be able to breathe and I can only do that out there.”

Sue has set up an online crowdfunding page to raise money to buy a caravan to put on her Tara property while she rebuilds her life and awaits government grants.