‘Jet plane’ roar wakes children as fire destroys home

FIRE and Rescue NSW is urging Northern Rivers residents to test their smoke alarms and review their home fire safety plans following a series of damaging fires across the region, including a blaze that destroyed a Mullumbimby house and forced three occupants to flee for their lives.

In Mullumbimby, a 17-year-old, a 25-year-old and a 43-year-old escaped after fire engulfed the home of long-time residents Jeff and Alma Jackson in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Neighbour Frea Alefosio said the house was fitted with smoke alarms, but she believed it was the roar of the fire itself that woke the occupants.

One of the younger occupants later told her the blaze sounded “like a jet plane was landing in the house”.

“They woke up to the noise, and it was so boiling hot in the house that they ran out the back,” she said.

Alefosio said the 17-year-old and 25-year-old, who had been sleeping in a rear part of the house, woke to the sound of the fire and began screaming to wake the 43-year-old, who was sleeping elsewhere in the home.

“He opened his door up and there was just flames everywhere,” she said.

“He kicked out the window and jumped through the window.”

 

Alefosio said neighbours initially thought a domestic dispute was taking place after hearing screams before looking outside and seeing the house ablaze.

She said embers were flying through the air and nearby residents feared their own homes could catch fire.

The three occupants escaped unharmed while Jeff and Alma Jackson were away for the night.

The warning comes after statistics revealed firefighters were unable to identify a working smoke alarm in 45 per cent of the nearly 3,900 residential fires attended across NSW last year.

The safety reminder coincides with Smoke Alarm Action Day on 1 June, a national campaign encouraging households to ensure their smoke alarms are working ahead of winter.

Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said a functioning smoke alarm could mean the difference between life and death.

“It only takes a few seconds to push the button on your smoke alarm to guarantee it is working,” he said.

 

“A working smoke alarm will give you the best possible warning if a fire breaks out in your home.”

There were 30 fire-related deaths in 2025, making it the second-worst year for residential fire fatalities in the past decade.

Twelve people have already lost their lives in residential fires across NSW this year.

Winter is traditionally the deadliest period for house fires as residents rely more heavily on heaters, electric blankets and other heating appliances, increasing the risk of fire inside the home.

Under NSW legislation, homes must have at least one working smoke alarm on every level, positioned between sleeping and living areas.

A community fundraiser has been established to support the Jackson family, who lost their home and belongings in the fire.

Friends say the couple, who have lived in Mullumbimby since 1978, did not have contents insurance.

Donations can be made via the family’s GoFundMe page, which is at gofundme.com/f/support-a-mullumbimby-family-after-tragic-house-fire