Long term resident Raymond (Bones) Murray, 78, suffered burns to his legs during a fire which totally destroyed his Noosaville house Thursday afternoon.
Bones as he is widely known was at home with his son who was visiting from Africa when the fire started in the garage at the front of the property.
Neighbours quickly alerted Queensland Fire and Emergency Service after smelling smoke and then seeing it billowing from the garage.
Noosa Heads station officer Matt Phillips said four fire units attended the blaze in Dolphin Crescent about 3.15pm and discovered the two men who had escaped out the back of the house.
“We got our firefighters around the back to get them,” he said. The family dog was also rescued unscathed but the cat has gone missing, he said.
With the house well alight firefighters turned much of their attention to saving nearby properties and took heed of the neighbour’s gas tanks which faced the burning building.
“We were able to stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring houses,” officer Phillips said.
The next door neighbour said Bones’ house was engulfed quickly. “Initially we saw smoke then it just went up,” she said.
“We heard a few bangs. We think a car caught on fire.”
Neighbouring houses were evacuated and police held back a crowd of onlookers. Bones was taken by ambulance to hospital.
It was about three hours before neighbours were allowed to return to their houses after firefighters tested for toxic fumes and gave the all clear.
Fire investigators are determining the cause of the fire but are not treating it as suspicious.
