Five boys feared dead after horrific fire

Five children and a man are unaccounted for after fire tore through several homes on an island off the Queensland coast.

Emergency services were called to the blaze on Russell Island – southeast of Brisbane – about 6.20am on Sunday.

A home on Todman St had caught fire which quickly spread to two surrounding homes.

Queensland Police Superintendent Mat Kelly said five boys – 11, 10, twin four-year-olds and a three-year-old – were not accounted for and are feared dead.

Their 34-year-old father is also missing.

The 28-year-old mother, who was at the house at the time and escaped, was being treated by paramedics.

“As you can imagine she is in a distressed state at this point in time,” Superintendent Kelly said.

“We are providing support for the community.”

Superintendent Kelly said it was a tragedy for the local community.

“These are young boys who could have become men into the future,” he said.

“A man has lost his life as well – truly devastating for the community at Russell Island and certainly for the emergency services as well.

The blaze is not being treated a suspicious at this time and is under investigation.

Superintendent Kelly said the scenes were “very confronting” when first responders arrived on the island.

Aerial footage from the scene captures smoke billowing from the ruined homes as firefighters man hoses to dampen the structures.

“Upon arrival, the house was fully involved and multiple surrounding properties were damaged,” Queensland Police said in a statement.

“A crime scene was immediately declared and an investigation launched.”

Seven Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) crews were called to the blaze.

Firefighters are currently dampening down the structure and conducting searched for the missing persons, a QFES spokesman said.

A Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) spokeswoman said nine people were assessed on scene.

Two were taken to hospital, one to Redland and the other to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

David Crisafulli, Queensland’s opposition leader, said the scenes were “deeply troubling” before addressing reporters on Sunday morning.

“These are the kinds of communities where everyone knows everyone and it’s a place where people matter,” he said.

“In tight-knit communities these incidents rock really hard.

“Rest assured, you’ve got a very, very brave community there that will be deeply hurting this morning.”

Originally published as ‘Truly devastating’: Five boys, father feared dead after fire destroys home on Qld’s Russell Island