Heroic tradies desperately try to help man trapped in apartment fire

Strangers rushed towards danger in a desperate attempt to save a man trapped in an apartment fire in Queensland on Tuesday.

Around a dozen Good Samaritans tried to help, pulling residents from the Woody Point apartments before firefighters arrived.

Tragically, the man they were trying to help died in the fire.

Footage shows flames shooting from the second storey windows.

The heat was intense, but some of the residents in nearby apartments were unaware of the unfolding emergency.

“No-one was coming out, and that’s when we’ve heard people and seen shadows, so we started pulling down the doors, alerting them and getting them out,” tradie Damien Shanks said.

Many feared that someone was trapped in the burning unit.

“The flames were so severe that nobody would ever have dared to go in there,” neighbour Estelle said.

But firefighters did go in, battling flames as they searched the home.

It was too late, however, to save the man in his 30s who lived inside.

“My heart goes out to all the team members here today,” firefighter Wayne Parry said.

“The aftermath of dealing with such loss, we take that home with us, we’re not made of rock.”

Neighbours and strangers who tried to help were also struggling with the man’s death.

“Very sad, yep, I wish we could do more, but we tried,” Mr Shanks said.

While the man’s unit was destroyed, surrounding apartments weren’t seriously damaged.

Residents have been moved to temporary accommodation until it is safe to return to their homes.

The government housing complex was temporarily declared a crime scene.

While investigators still don’t know the cause of the fire, they are no longer treating it as suspicious.