Terrifying moment a family makes a narrow escape after hearing ‘popping and crackling’ noises before their garage roller door motor burst into flames
- A mother of six shared her harrowing story of her garage roller door exploding
- Annalisa Buchanan said on Sunday night she heard crackling and popping
- The door burst into flames at her Edmonton, QLD home on Sunday around 11pm
A mother of six has spoken of the terrifying moment her garage door motor burst into flames after she’d heard it ‘popping and crackling’.
Annalisa Buchanan said she had just wrapped up work on Sunday night and was starting to relax as a ferocious fire started inside her home at Edmonton, a southern suburb of Cairns in far north Queensland.
Sharing her story to a community Facebook group, Ms Buchanan said there were no warning signs before hearing the noises from the unit and it exploding into flames.
A mother of six has spoken of the terrifying moment her garage door motor burst into flames after hearing it ‘popping and crackling’ before bursting into flames in Edmonton, Queensland
Annalisa Buchanan said the garage motor caught fire just before 11pm on Sunday, with her family narrowly escaping the blaze
‘There was no beeping sound, the roller door just started to open,’ Ms Buchanan said.
‘Then it was stopping and shuddering, then we heard popping and crackling, then smoke and flames.
‘We actually had the door that leads into the garage from the house open and we heard and saw it happen.’
The mother of six’s quick thinking meant she was able to usher the family out shortly before 11pm.
‘We were just lucky that we were awake,’ Annalisa said.
‘It happened so quickly but we reacted just as quick as the [Ford Falcon] XR8 was directly under it. It was moved out as I called 000.’
Ms Buchanan said the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service managed to extinguish the blaze extremely quickly, all while caring for her autistic daughter.
Sharing her story to a community Facebook group, Ms Buchanan said there were no warning signs before hearing the popping and cracking and the flames started
Ms Buchanan said the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service managed to extinguish the blaze extremely quickly, all while caring for her autistic daughter
‘[I] just wanted to say a massive thank you to the awesome fire brigade that came out tonight when my garage door motor had a meltdown, literally,’ she wrote.
‘Their concern for my autistic daughter was amazing, keeping her calm. I cannot say thank you enough for what they’ve done.’
Facebook users online quizzed whether the door was faulty or if the motor installed to power garage doors is safe.
‘A few weeks ago I noticed our steel line motor, that looks like the one in your pics, has got melted plastic on the back of the case,’ one user said.
‘[I] have had it switched off to be safe. Wonder if it’s got the same issue. Scary stuff.’
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