Mates fight fire with hose at Broome's Son Ming restaurant

Australia Broadcast Center

5 hours ago

A Broome man on his way to the pub with a friend has climbed onto the roof of a Chinese restaurant with garden hoses to help save it from a kitchen fire.
Locals Luke Frost and Aaron O'Brien noticed smoke billowing from the Son Ming Chinese Restaurant in the heart of Broome's Chinatown precinct about 4pm on Tuesday.
The pair said they decided to investigate and see if they could lend a hand.
"I could see flames coming out of the roof, I knew straight away the building was on fire," Mr Frost said.
"We've pulled in and quickly jumped out of the car, ran over, and no one was really aware that it was on fire.
Mr Frost said he and another passer-by attempted to climb over razor-wire to gain access to the roof, before using two garden hoses to put out the flames, some as high as three metres.
He said his friend, Mr O'Brien, used fire extinguishers in the kitchen below.
The blaze was contained to the kitchen, sparing the rest of the property, including the dining area.
"Everyone assumed the fire was in the kitchen, but it went through the range-hood and started going into the roof very, very fast."
Restaurant owner Hong Yu , who lives at the rear of the building, was asleep ahead of the night's trading when the blaze broke out.
Ms Yu said she heard a bang on the door and someone yell, 'get out, fire, fire'.
"I really don't know what happened," she said.
Ms Yu praised Mr Frost, Mr O'Brien and her neighbours, who raised the alarm.
"They really quickly jumped up there [the roof], fast, to help.
While works to restore power to the kitchen and neighbouring buildings were underway on Wednesday morning, Ms Yu said she was unsure when the restaurant would reopen.
The cause of the blaze is not yet known.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said crews attended the fire, which was extinguished about 5:15pm.
No one was injured.
Carnarvon Street is home to several landmark buildings in Chinatown, significant to Broome's pearling history dating back to the late 1800s.
Ms Yu and her husband Sam Yu have owned the corrugated restaurant since the 1990s, which is the former site of the Ah Ming Store.
The restaurateur said she was relieved the fire didn't spread to the dining area and destroy precious historical memorabilia.
Mr Frost said he and others who put out the blaze did not hesitate to help.
"These are old buildings ... if one had of started catching on fire, I think the rest would've been a domino effect," he said.