A Queensland coroner has been told that a landlord received multiple warnings about faulty smoke alarms prior to a fatal house fire on Russell Island in 2023 that claimed the lives of a father and five children. Deputy State Coroner Donald MacKenzie conducted a pre-inquest conference on Tuesday to discuss the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The fire occurred in the early morning hours of August 6, 2023, at a two-storey wooden Queenslander-style home that had been relocated to Russell Island and renovated in 2013. Five children aged between three and 11, including two brothers aged four, died in the blaze along with their 34-year-old father, who died after attempting to rescue them. Their identities are withheld for legal reasons.
The children’s mother and father had been sleeping in a converted “chill out” area beneath the house when the father woke to thick black smoke. He immediately ran upstairs to reach the children’s bedrooms. The mother also tried to enter the house but was driven back by the fire, while another adult woman escaped by jumping from a balcony.
Witnesses and emergency responders reported that no smoke alarm was heard at any point before or during the fire. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services lacks a station on Russell Island, requiring vehicles to be transported by ferry—a process taking 45 to 60 minutes. The first emergency responder on scene was a paramedic who arrived within minutes around 6:26 a.m. The paramedic described intense heat visible even through his vehicle window and flames emerging from the roof with a characteristic mushroom-shaped smoke plume.
Attempts to enter the burning property to rescue occupants were unsuccessful due to the blaze’s severity. Firefighters arrived shortly after, at 6:35 a.m., but the fire had already spread extensively.
The investigation revealed several safety issues with the home’s electrical system, including exposed wiring, a faulty electrical box, and power points known to short circuit. An extension cord had been run from a malfunctioning power point in a child’s bedroom to the understory area. Additionally, the smoke alarms did not comply with 2017 legislation requiring upgraded safety features for smoke alarms in rental properties renewed after January 2022. The landlord said he was unaware of the updated regulations. The children’s mother stated she had reported non-working smoke alarms to the landlord, but no action was taken.
The landlord was fined $774 in 2024—the maximum penalty allowed under Queensland law—for improper installation of the smoke alarms. A conviction was not recorded.
Coroner MacKenzie has been given direction to investigate seven specific issues, including whether properly installed fire alarms could have prevented the fatalities, whether emergency service response times and resources were adequate, and whether having additional fire services stationed on Russell Island might have mitigated the outcome.
Fire investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire and have not ruled out the possibility of deliberate ignition. The inquest is scheduled to run for 10 days in November and will call upon 16 witnesses to give evidence.