Ten people are counting themselves lucky to be alive tonight after an intense fire at Taringa destroyed their timber home.

The blaze erupted in the share house and quickly spread to a property next door.

Brendan Hahne reports.

TRANSCRIPT

The fire started just after 11PM last night in the bottom level of the two storey Queenslander.

Fire fighters arrived to find the house engulfed by flames but there was little they could do to save it.

One of those who escaped woke to a power outage and went to investigate moments later came the shrill sound of smoke alarms.

Jane Franken, Resident: “By the time we got back downstairs the fire had gone up to the roof which was all wooden and from their it caught and went up in a matter of seconds.”

Firefighters believe an overloaded powerboard was the likely cause of the fire.

Residents say they’ve had power problems before.

Tim Paech, Resident: “Everything in the room went to the powerboard and we knew it was faulty because it had stuffed up before but not quite to this scale.”

The fire was so intense that a neighbouring house was also damaged by the flames. Fire fighters were able to stop this fire from spreading and save the house from any further damage.

An occupant of the second house that caught alight said he’s lost everything.

And the crew of a fishing trawler also had a lucky escape overnight when their vessel burst into flames four nautical miles off Mermaid Beach.

The two men made it to shore in a dinghy after activating an emergency beacon and flare.

The skipper was taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation and shock.

Fire and rescue crews abandoned an attempt to extinguish the fire, the trawler eventually sank.

Brendan Hahne, QUT News.