Twenty years on from the Childers Backpackers fire that killed 15 people, Bundaberg woke up yesterday to the news that the Federal Backpackers and Dog Tavern building had burned down overnight.
David Coe (pictured), managing director of Northwest Insurance in Bundaberg, who is managing the claim, says both his clients – the owner of the Federal Backpackers as well as the building owner – are distraught by the developments.
“The building owner, I believe, is based in Melbourne and he was told by his tenant that his place went up in smoke and he can be quite concerned,” he said. “He can’t leave Victoria because they’re in a lockdown situation, so he can’t even get up here to view the building. I’ve called him four times today just to keep him in the loop, as I have done with the tenant of Federal Backpackers. I’ve spoken with them as well on several occasions today and things are going really well as far as the process of the claim.”
While police are yet to determine where and how the fire started, the town is anxious over its origins. Coe says the investigation is still in the police’s hands.
“No-one’s dispersed any type of suggestion it was an arson attack yet but, as you know, with any fire and with any place, police have got to rule it out,” he said.
“I’ve already had that conversation with my clients because that’s a part of the investigation. But for now, it’s more of a police investigation than it is an insurance investigation until it’s established how the fire started.”
However, the police can’t conclude their investigations to allow the insurance claim to go ahead until forensics have access to the building, which is hindered by the building’s severe damage.
“The forensic team have got to get in there first but even before that – this is the drama right now – the building has to be certified that it is safe to enter. Now, until that’s done, the police cannot do their investigations, the assessors are not allowed inside, and no-one can do anything other than try and keep it under control. The building is still smouldering in different sections at this time,” Coe explained.
To assess how safe the building is for forensics to enter, GHD Engineering has been engaged to inspect it for the assessor.
“GHD Engineers will establish how safe the building is and the integrity of the walls, but in this particular case, there are brick walls on the outside and the inside is completely timber,” Coe said. “We also have a completely missing roof and the third floor is gone and, when that’s the case, it certainly compromises the integrity of the entire building because that’s what actually keeps the building together.”
Coe says the engineer has already told him the building has been deemed too unsafe to enter at this point in time. As such, the police have had to cordon off the main street where the damaged building is located.
“It’s right in the main street area of Bundaberg and so the main street has been cordoned off by the police because of the size of the three-storey building,” he continued.
“If it was to collapse, pedestrians would be at risk, as would the drivers of vehicles going past. Security has been called in to ensure no-one goes anywhere near the building until its determined as to how safe it really is by the engineers.”
The hostel blaze comes at a heartbreaking time, when the small regional town was commemorating 20 years since the Childers Hostel arson attack, which killed 15 tourists.
“To see another backpackers’ place burn to the ground is not something you want at this time,” Coe said. “I assume it’s probably going to create a lot of media attention. However, in this case here, the owner of the hostel was up at all hours of the night making sure all backpackers were evacuated from the building and that was done successfully. No-one was injured and there’s been no fatalities. Everyone was evacuated safely, and everyone is happy at this point in time. We’re just mainly looking at material loss rather than life loss.”
The 60 hostel guests have been relocated, however, their property inside the backpackers’ hostel was burned inside the building. Coe says the tourists can claim for losses with their own travel insurers.
“The tourists have all got lives to live – they all had their belongings inside the building, which have all gone up in smoke as well,” he said. “They’re going to be looking at trying to recover what they can through their own policies of travel insurance or whatever they’ve got and that’s just another avenue of this whole event.”
The blaze comes at a devastating time for his clients who were already grappling with the economic hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Coe says both his clients were “getting back on their feet” before this event happened.
However, Coe is grateful for the quality of service he and his clients have received from the insurer.
“To be honest with you, right now the insurance group and the assessing group – I couldn’t have asked for a speedier result than what we’ve had so far,” Coe said.
“Everyone’s pulled their weight, everyone’s done the right thing, and everyone has really worked hard to ensure that we’ve got to where we are now. Going from here, we have to look at how the loss occurred, we’ve got to rule out arson and make sure there’s been no foul play and once that’s done – we can then progress to looking to see if it’s going to be a total loss or not.”
