{"id":444,"date":"2026-03-08T20:42:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T10:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mytestsite.com.au\/tocah\/?p=444"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:10:59","slug":"fire-at-mundoolun-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mytestsite.com.au\/tocah\/fire-at-mundoolun-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire at Mundoolun Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 30-room homestead on Mundoolun Station, 12 miles from Beaudesert was destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of 19 August 1939. The homestead was built in 1915 at an estimated \u00a0cost of \u00a34,000 and was one of the oldest stations in Queensland. It overlooked a large lagoon which abounded with wild birds.<\/p>\n

Mr. Douglas Fraser, the owner and the other occupants of the house escaped the inferno uninjured. In the space of about 10 minutes fire had completely enveloped the house. An hour later, the house was destroyed and only 4 brick chimneys were left standing.<\/p>\n

Douglas Fraser managed to save an oil painting of his father \u2013 Simon Fraser. Unfortunately, this was the only thing in the house he managed to save as re-entering the house was impossible due to the flames and heat.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

Beside the house were two aviaries in which lived many valuable painted finches bred by Mr. Fraser on the station. During the fire, he released these birds by smashing the wiring of the cages with an axe.<\/p>\n

Some of the birds perished but many were seen flying about the trees near the house the next morning.<\/p>\n

The house contained many old family curios, all of which were destroyed. Mr. Fraser\u2019s son was a keen collector of old guns and rifles. He had a very large and unique collection, but when he arrived at the ruins of his home, he found the whole collection completely destroyed.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest losses was the library containing books collected by Douglas Fraser\u2019s grandfather, father and himself. Mr. Fraser said, \u201cIt is not so much the building, as we can soon put up a new structure, but the house contained so many family relics which, though of really no value to others can never be replaced\u2019.<\/p>\n

The station covered an area of approximately 12,000 acres. Douglas Fraser\u2019s grandfather, John Collins settled on the site in 1842. Douglas studied at Melbourne University and then returned to Mundoolun in 1913 to manage the station.<\/p>\n

If you wish to read in more detail about this event, there are many newspaper reports of the fire including these sources:<\/p>\n

The Telegraph\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 \u2013 1947), Saturday 19 August 1939, page 1 and Page 10<\/p>\n

Sunday Mail<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>(Brisbane, Qld. : 1926 \u2013 1954), Sunday 20 August 1939, page 2<\/p>\n

SOURCE: National Library of Australia \u2013 Digitised Newspapers.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In August 1939, the 30-room homestead at Mundoolun Station near Beaudesert was destroyed by fire in a matter of minutes. Owner Douglas Fraser and the occupants escaped unharmed, but the blaze consumed the historic homestead along with many irreplaceable family relics and collections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"series":[41],"class_list":["post-444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical-events","series-tocah"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/mytestsite.com.au\/tocah\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Fire-at-Mundoolun-Station-sm.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/mytestsite.com.au\/tocah\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Fire-at-Mundoolun-Station-sm.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/mytestsite.com.au\/tocah\/feed\/podcast\/tocah","embedCode":"

Fire at Mundoolun Station<\/a><\/blockquote>