A sad Christmas season for one family when a fire completed gutted and destroyed their residential home on Glen Street Macleay Island Saturday 11 am 20 th December.
Two fire engines were in attendance with an ambulance and the police as fire swept through the house very quickly exploding gas bottles that further ignited the flames. Within the hour the house was a gutted ruin with nothing left for the fire brigade to do but dampen down the embers.
The house was well alight when the fire brigade arrived after a triple zero call from Robert Taylor who detected the strong smell of burning electric wiring and rubber before noticing the pall of smoke rising from the trees in Glenn Street. The neighbours house was of a brick basement and this no doubt shielded it from some of the flames but being so close there was an immediate danger of the fire spreading with a strong breeze fanning the blaze. The fireball was huge and could be felt from as far away as Scotts Road. - ROBERT TAYLOR