Tomahawk fire deemed accidental
• Tomahawk residents woke on Friday morning to find their caravan was on fire. The damage is estimated to be $50,000.
By Taylor Clyne
January 27, 2021
Tomahawk residents Craig and Barbara O’Byrne awoke on Friday morning at 5am to find that their caravan parked next to their shack was on fire and they jumped to attention.
Craig was set to go fishing that morning and after getting up to go to the loo and check the weather on his phone he remembers hearing a funny noise which sounded like crackling wind.
“I sat up from bed and looked out the window to see the back of our caravan was going up in flames,” he said.
“Barbara ran up the road and enlisted the help of Colin Healslip and Garry Clarke and it was just by luck that Matthew ‘Gadget’ Hall was up too, and they all came to help.
“We quickly turned the power off, moved our cars and got busy trying to save the fence and the shack with buckets of water to start with as the laser light had caught on fire, it was quite hectic for a while there,” Craig said.
Tasmania Fire Service crews from Tomahawk and Gladstone also attended the scene and helped extinguished the fire.
They did a fantastic job at containing the fire to the caravan and preventing it from spreading to the adjacent house.
However the caravan was completely destroyed, and damage is estimated at $50,000.
The pair said unfortunately they had only used their caravan once after purchasing it a year ago.
“We had another trip planned in March but that’s just bad luck I guess.
“We probably lost about $5,000 of our personal belongings too but thankfully we were fully insured.”
The cause of the fire was deemed as accidental after being investigated by the Tasmanian Fire Service and Fire Safe.
“The guys said it started in the back of the fridge.
“We just want to say a big thanks to the local brigades, they did a fantastic job.”
Unfortunately, Craig missed out on his fishing trip but spirits remain high that he’ll get back out on the water soon.