A destructive residential blaze in Queensland’s Southern Downs region has delivered a story of extraordinary luck, after seven people — including five young children between the ages of three and five — managed to escape the engulfed two-storey home on Wednesday morning.
Emergency services confirmed that first responders were dispatched to Leslie Parade in Stanthorpe shortly after 8:40 a.m. following reports of a structure fully engulfed in flames. When crews from the Queensland Fire Department arrived on scene, they found the two-storey brick home already burning heavily, with the fire confirmed to have originated in the property’s stairwell, a critical escape route for the occupants inside.
At the time the fire broke out, all seven residents were inside the home: the five young toddlers, a 26-year-old woman, and an 80-year-old man. Against significant odds, every person managed to evacuate the burning building before firefighters could gain entry to conduct search and rescue operations.
Local paramedics immediately provided on-site first aid to all seven evacuees. The five young children received initial assessment and treatment at the scene before being transferred to Stanthorpe Hospital for further observation. The 26-year-old woman was treated for two separate conditions: a soft tissue injury to her arm and smoke inhalation, while the 80-year-old man also received medical care for smoke inhalation.
To bring the blaze under control, fire crews were forced to remove a section of the home’s roof to access hidden hotspots and fully extinguish the fire. No further injuries were reported among first responders, and investigations into the exact cause of the fire are ongoing.
The incident marks the second residential fire escape making headlines in Queensland in recent days, following a separate event where seven children escaped an e-bike-related house blaze.