By Jess Baker
A family has been left homeless after a fire destroyed their Applethorpe home on Sunday 16 May.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said five crews arrived at the Ellwood Road property just after 5.00pm to find the house already “well alight”.
“The fire was extinguished by 6.00pm, all persons accounted for,” said a QFES spokeswoman.
“About 80 percent of the lower level was destroyed.”
Homeowner Timo Kent told Warwick and Stanthorpe Today he was at the Gold Coast when he was told his house had been destroyed by flames.
“I came back on Sunday night … I don’t really know what happened. It was empty,” Timo said.
“I have some passports and other things in a safety box, everything else is gone … all the photos and good memories.”
Timo said his 17-year-old son AJ was on his way home from work when he saw the flames and called triple zero.
“A firefighter said the fire started on the back terrace, but I don’t know…,” Timo said.
“There was no damage to people … the damage is that everything burned.”
Timo said the only belongings he, his wife, and his son now have are the clothes that were on their backs at the time of the fire.
Thankfully, the Kents’ family cat – three-legged and 15 years old – managed to escape the blaze, and their dogs were with Timo at the Gold Coast.
A QFES spokeswoman said a police investigator visited the scene on Monday 17 May and, at the time of going to print on Tuesday 18 May, investigations were still open.
Timo said he and his family are still coming to terms with what has happened.
“First we have a drought, after that a bushfire, after that too much rain … Stanthorpe is a funny place to live,” he said.
He said neither he nor his family have any idea what caused the fire.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the Kents as they prepare to start over. To donate, visit: gofund.me/6b842c0d.
