NEIGHBOURS rallied round to help an elderly couple when fire engulfed their Victoria Point house early on Wednesday morning.
Neighbour Ryan McCalla said he raced to the Lees Court house after being woken by his dog barking about 2.45am.
“The fire had taken control of the house and the old fellow was fighting the fire with his hose,” he said.
“I had to give him stern words and tell him to let it go. We managed to get him to get his cars out of the garage. We could see there was no saving the house with flames like that.”
Mr McCalla said it was nerve-wracking seeing the house go up in flames, but it was good to see residents come out and help one another.
Neighbours said the couple, ‘Ras’ and Margaret Rasmussen, told them an electric blanket had caught alight about 11pm and Mr Rasmussen had put the blanket and mattress on a porch outside.
“He stamped on it and thought he had put it out,” one neighbour said.
Ervin Ferris, who lives next door to the Rasmussen’s said he hosed the couple’s boat, which was starting to catch alight.
“The boat was on fire and I put it out with a hose,” he said.
“It was near the shed which contains petrol and paint so I kept spraying because I didn’t know where the fire was going to end up.”
Twelve-year-old Sierriah Lee said she woke up to the sound of a siren and went outside when she saw the front door open.
“As I raced out the front, I saw the big fire and then the roof collapsed,” she said.
“My mum was out there with another neighbour trying to get Ras out of the his house.”
Another neighbour, who asked to be identified only as Donna, said they were woken by the smell and she took her children across the road, while her husband helped the couple.
“The flames were out the back and they got bigger and bigger,” she said.
“It was such a sad thing to have happened, but I am glad that everyone is alright.”
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services investigator Greg Jones said fire crews were at the house about 14 minutes after receiving the call from a neighbour.
He said the fire appeared to have started at the back of the property, but his investigations were continuing as to the cause of the fire.
Fire investigation duty manager Steve Holland said the probable cause of the fire was believed to be an electric blanket on a mattress that had caught alight.
A spokesperson for Queensland Ambulance Service said the couple were taken in a stable condition to Royal Brisbane Hospital.
“The man had minor burns to his hands and legs and the woman was in shock,” she said.
