Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire
Encyclopedia
The Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire on 23 June 2000 killed 15 backpackers: nine women and six men. The hostel in the town of Childers
, Queensland
, Australia, is popular amongst backpackers for its fruit picking work. Robert Paul Long was arrested for lighting the fire and charged with murder (two counts) and arson (one count). He was later sentenced to life in prison.
The people killed in the fire were:
The fire was started at about 1 am, apparently in the downstairs recreation room, but most of the backpackers who died were on the second floor of the hostel. The timber hostel did not have working smoke detectors or fire alarms. Local firefighters raised a ladder to allow some people to escape. The 69 traumatised backpackers who survived the fire were housed locally — the Isis Cultural Centre became the recreational, food and communication centre for them.
The Princess Royal
visited Childers on 2 July, just a week after the blaze, to meet the surviving backpackers and others involved in the disaster.
Bill Trevor, the Isis Shire
Mayor, travelled to England and the Netherlands in October 2001 to consult the bereaved families about the memorial proposals. He negotiated to rebuild the Palace in its original early-1900s style.
The Queensland artist Sam Di Mauro made a 7.7-metre-long glass memorial wall that was set into the new building.
The Sydney
artist Josonia Palaitis
was selected to paint portraits of those killed. She said it was "the most technically challenging and emotionally charged portrait I've ever undertaken". The artist's greatest challenge was to suitably portray the youngsters from the photos of them provided by their families: she managed to arrange them while maintaining the precise poses of those photos. The background was researched by her to be typical of the Isis
area fields where they had worked picking crops. "The response to the artwork was overwhelming with families ecstatic with the result."
Some 250 invited guests, including many members of the families of the dead from around the world, attended the official opening on 26 October 2002. Frank Slarke, the father of murdered twins Stacey and Kelly read a poem he wrote as a eulogy.
Childers, Queensland
Childers is a town in southern Queensland, Australia, situated at the junction of the Bruce and Isis Highways. The township lies north of the state capital Brisbane and south-west of Bundaberg. Childers is located within Bundaberg Region Local Government Area. At the 2006 census, Childers had a...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia, is popular amongst backpackers for its fruit picking work. Robert Paul Long was arrested for lighting the fire and charged with murder (two counts) and arson (one count). He was later sentenced to life in prison.
The people killed in the fire were:
- Moulay Lalaoui-Kama, Moroccan-born Australian
- Hui-Kyoung Lee, Korea
- Michael Ernest Lewis, England
- Natalie Morris, Wales
- Julie O'Keeffe, Ireland
- Adam John Rowland, England
- twins Kelly June Slarke and
- Stacey Louise Slarke, Australia
- Melissa Jane Smith, England
- Gary John Sutton, England
- Atsushi Toyona, Japan
- Joly Van der Velden, Netherlands
- Claire Louise Webb, England
- Sebastian Westerveld, Netherlands
- Sarah Ann Williams, Wales
The fire was started at about 1 am, apparently in the downstairs recreation room, but most of the backpackers who died were on the second floor of the hostel. The timber hostel did not have working smoke detectors or fire alarms. Local firefighters raised a ladder to allow some people to escape. The 69 traumatised backpackers who survived the fire were housed locally — the Isis Cultural Centre became the recreational, food and communication centre for them.
The Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
visited Childers on 2 July, just a week after the blaze, to meet the surviving backpackers and others involved in the disaster.
Bill Trevor, the Isis Shire
Shire of Isis
The Shire of Isis was a Local Government Area located in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, to the south of Bundaberg. The Shire, administered from the town of Childers covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1887 until 2008, when it was amalgamated...
Mayor, travelled to England and the Netherlands in October 2001 to consult the bereaved families about the memorial proposals. He negotiated to rebuild the Palace in its original early-1900s style.
The Queensland artist Sam Di Mauro made a 7.7-metre-long glass memorial wall that was set into the new building.
The Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
artist Josonia Palaitis
Josonia Palaitis
Josonia Palaitis is an Australian artist living in Sydney, Australia. She won the 1994 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize with a portrait of her father artist John Mills. In 1995 she won the Archibald Prize People's Choice award with a portrait of artist and cartoonist for the Australian Newspaper...
was selected to paint portraits of those killed. She said it was "the most technically challenging and emotionally charged portrait I've ever undertaken". The artist's greatest challenge was to suitably portray the youngsters from the photos of them provided by their families: she managed to arrange them while maintaining the precise poses of those photos. The background was researched by her to be typical of the Isis
Shire of Isis
The Shire of Isis was a Local Government Area located in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, to the south of Bundaberg. The Shire, administered from the town of Childers covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1887 until 2008, when it was amalgamated...
area fields where they had worked picking crops. "The response to the artwork was overwhelming with families ecstatic with the result."
Some 250 invited guests, including many members of the families of the dead from around the world, attended the official opening on 26 October 2002. Frank Slarke, the father of murdered twins Stacey and Kelly read a poem he wrote as a eulogy.