A man has died while a young woman was rushed to hospital with serious burns after a horrific fire engulfed a unit complex.
The fire broke out in a unit at the rear of a small apartment complex in Amelia St, Albion, in Brisbane’s northeast, about 4pm on Thursday.
Emergency services were called to the scene where firefighters entered the burning house and found the body of a man in the living room.
A woman in her 30s was pulled from the burning house and treated on the footpath by advanced care paramedics for burns to her face, hands and airways.
She was heard screaming as she was stretchered into an ambulance before being rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a serious condition.
A man has died and a woman has suffered serious burns at a north-east Brisbane unit complex.
Firefighters spent more than half an hour fighting the inferno
“Tragically, the body of a man has been located within the actual unit, a crime scene has been declared and the investigation is ongoing,” Inspector Steve Crabbe said.
Crews battled the fire for 30 minutes before it was brought under control shortly before 5pm.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Superintendent Graeme Hall described the fire as a “very intense fire” and completely destroyed the living area of the unit.
Shocked neighbors recalled seeing the complex completely engulfed in flames and a woman’s frantic screams that someone was still inside the burning home.
“There were flames coming out of the door, I ran to the front of the door at the bottom of the stairs,” one man said. mail.
“The occupant of the house, the woman, ran out into the road, fell at the end of the driveway, while another woman was looking after her, the men were running back and forth trying to find hoses.”
The complex suffered extensive damage (pictured) in the fire on Thursday afternoon.
Others feared the fire would spread to neighboring properties.
“It sounded like they were throwing things into the back of a truck, metal, the woman kept screaming,” one woman recalled.
“When I came out I saw the flames at the back of the place and I thought my house was going to burn down.”
The street was cordoned off by police tape as police established the crime scene.
Firefighters warned area residents to stay indoors and close windows and doors to avoid inhaling smoke.
Investigations into what caused the fire are ongoing.
One person dies after unit fire in Brisbane suburb of Albion