Type Fire Date 23 June 2000 Location Childers | Location Childers, Australia Total number of deaths 15 | |
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Similar Knights of Columbus Hostel fire, Hotel Roosevelt fire, 1980 Saskatoon Queen's, Gulf Hotel fire, Central Hotel Fire - Bundoran | ||
The Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire on 23 June 2000 killed 15 backpackers: nine women and six men. The former Palace Hotel in the town of Childers, Queensland, Australia, had been converted into a backpacker hostel; it was popular amongst backpackers who were doing fruit picking work in the Childers area. 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.
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Fire
The fire was started at about 1 am, in the downstairs recreation room. 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 backpackers who survived the fire were temporarily housed locally at the Isis Cultural Centre.
Aftermath and memorial
Robert Long, a fruit picker who had expressed a hatred of backpackers and had earlier threatened to burn down the hostel was arrested in bushland less than 20 miles from Childers five days later. During the arrest he slashed a police dog and stabbed one of the officers on the chin. The second officer shot Long in the arm. In March 2002 Long was found guilty of two charges of murder and arson.
Anne, 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 (25 foot) 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.