A fire has ripped through an aged care home in Brisbane, leaving residents shaken and the facility destroyed.
The community are praising the heroic staff at the Bayside Lodge Nursing home located in Lota who evacuated everyone, including those with mobility issues, quite quickly.
Cherry Krane, a local neighbour, said she saw the “big red flames shooting out of the roof” as crews struggled to battle the fire.
“Credit to these people who saved themselves and then to the firies who did an amazing job of containing that fire to stop it from spreading to these surrounding residents,” she said.
Thanks to smoke alarms and quick-thinking staff, all 28 residents and their carers escaped uninjured.
“It’s a noteworthy point of how good a job the staff did to get people with varying age, mobility issues, disabilities, out of the building,” David Beutel from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said.
Residents and their loved ones are still in shock after losing everything, with some being confused about what happened.
“They don’t understand that they can’t come back home because home isn’t here anymore. It breaks my heart,” said Tracey Smith, who had a family member living there.
Donations of clothing, bedding and other personal items are now being gathered to support the victims of the devastation.
Image: Nine News
This article first appeared on OverSixty.