QLD:Search for clues in Qld's fatal fire

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2011
QLD:Search for clues in Qld's fatal fire

BRISBANE, Aug 27 AAP - Forensic officers have returned to the burnt shell of a house
where 11 people perished to continue investigations into the cause of the blaze.

How the fire started is now the focus of the investigation after the final two bodies
were removed from the Slacks Creek house, south of Brisbane on Friday.

Hundreds of Tongan and Samoan locals kept a vigil outside the Wagensveldt Street house
until all bodies were recovered out of respect for the dead, who were of Pacific Island
heritage.

The blaze tore through the house in the early hours of Wednesday morning, killing three
women - matriarch Fusi Kalau Taufa, 57, her sister Teukisia Lale, 42, and Fusi's daughter
Annamaria Taufa, 23.

It also killed eight children. They were Teukisia's five children - Jerry, 18, Paul,
17, Lafoa'i, 14, Sela, 10, and Richie, eight - Annamaria's daughters - Lahaina, seven,
and Kalahnie, three - and Fusi's other granddaughter Ardelle Lee, 16.

Only three men survived the blaze - patriarch and Fusi's husband Tau Taufa, 66, Teukisia's
husband Jeremiah Lale, 50, and Annamaria's partner Misi Matauina, 22.

Police say the fire appears to have started in a downstairs office and quickly engulfed
the high-set house.

Forensic officers returned to the scene of the house on Saturday to sift through the
debris for clues.

They say the complexity of the fire has made it a difficult and slow process, but have
dismissed reports the fire may have been deliberately lit.

Meanwhile, a Polynesian festival at Logan City near the scene of the fire is expected
to go ahead as planned on Saturday afternoon.

Event manager Lee Hemi told ABC Radio he wanted to call it off because the secretary
of the festival, Treicee Taufa, lost her daughter in the fire.

But he said Ms Taufa insisted it go ahead.

"Treicee Taufa ... she's the secretary and has been on board for the last two years,
she tragically lost her daughter and family members in the fire," he said.

"So she has wanted this event to go forward, so that is why we are continuing with
it, and we are hoping on the day that people can come and bring a bit of normality back
into the community and make them forget about the tragedy, even if it is only for a couple
of hours."

Police are yet to fully interview the survivors and witnesses.

Family are waiting to hear from police, who have the difficult job of distinguishing
the remains before funeral arrangements can be made.

Church services in Logan City also continued to pay tribute to the family at the weekend.

AAP peb/mp

KEYWORD: FIRE

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