Montana's house was gutted by an accidental fire. Then her landlord accused her of starting it

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Montana Adams is still piecing her life together more than a year after a fire gutted her house.
The mother of eight was asleep at her rental home in Macquarie Fields in south-west Sydney on May 28, 2024, when her fire alarm rang out in the middle of the night.
"It was the piercing sound of the smoke alarm, then once I opened my door, I smelt the smoke," she recalled.
Ms Adams scrambled to collect all eight children, including two with disabilities, before they piled onto the street in just their pyjamas and watched the house go up in flames.
The two-storey home was gutted by the inferno, with family possessions melted.
A Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) report determined the cause of the blaze was accidental and sparked by a power board in the living room.
In the weeks following the incident, the family moved between various short-term accommodation homes while they found their bearings.
"The kids just had their pyjamas, no shoes, nothing at all," Ms Adams said.
There have been 158 house fires in NSW since the start of winter; three have been fatal.
Ten days prior to the May 28 fire, a faulty air conditioning unit at the home suddenly caught alight in an unrelated incident.
The blaze didn't cause any internal damage to the house, and FRNSW installed new smoke alarms after the home's alarms didn't sound.
Ms Adams said she first contacted One Agency Macquarie Fields on December 6, 2023, asking for a handyman to investigate the house's air conditioning units after they appeared to trip the house's power and blow hot air.
After the second fire on May 28, Ms Adams filed a claim through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) alleging the agency had failed its obligations by not following through with repairs.
In her claim, Ms Adams said she requested the real estate agency undertake an inspection of the house's electricity supply after the first fire.
The 46-year-old requested the maximum of $15,000 in compensation from the landlord for both economic and non-economic losses.
NCAT found the agency was in breach of not repairing the air conditioning units but that Ms Adams had not suffered compensable loss as a result of the first fire.
It determined the cause of the second fire was not a result of landlord inaction, and the landlord was not fined.
"That was something I could not prove and therefore it was dismissed," Ms Adams said.
A spokesperson for One Agency Macquarie Fields said the second fire was "caused through [Ms Adam's] own negligence".
"After being confirmed by the experts that they [sic] claims are incorrect, they now knock on the media's door," the spokesperson said.
In a follow-up email, the spokesperson said the matter had been resolved at tribunal.
"Our property manager at the time presented the Fire & Rescue Incident Report, which confirmed that the fire originated from a failure of a power board and a charger plugged into it," the spokesperson said.
On September 23, 2024, One Agency Macquarie Fields filed a counter NCAT claim requesting $15,000 in compensation from Ms Adams, accusing her of starting the second fire, despite the cause of the fire being deemed accidental by FRNSW.
A report filed by the agency to NCAT stated the landlord did not have home insurance or tenant insurance for the property.
The claim was dismissed by NCAT before it could go to hearing.
Despite being equipped with documentation and fire reports, Ms Adams said she felt like the NCAT tribunal process was weighed in the power of real estate agencies and landlords.
Leo Patterson-Ross from the Tenants Union NSW said tenants had few rights during house fires or natural disasters.
Under the state's tenancy act, real estate agents are not required to offer temporary accommodation to tenants if neither party is deemed to be at fault.
If the property is uninhabitable, the tenancy agreement is typically terminated — meaning tenants won't pay rent.
If the property is habitable but requires repairs, tenants can request a rent reduction.
"Often you won't get alternative accommodation paid for, but you can use that rent reduction to fund some other accommodation," Mr Patterson-Ross said.
"There is really a lack of support for people, particularly for recovering goods after a fire ... often you are left with very little."
A spokesperson for One Agency Macquarie Fields said Ms Adams was offered a six-bedroom house as an alternative rental but that "she was not interested in the offer".
Mr Patterson-Ross said it was crucial to keep records of conversations with the real estate agency or landlord if you intend to pursue the matter through the tribunal system.
"Document every conversation you have, so if you are having a phone call, write down what you understood that phone call to be and send that to the agent or landlord so they have a record if there's a dispute later on."
Ms Adams still drives past the Macquarie Fields home, which remains intact but taped off from the public.
The NSW government introduced tougher reforms to the rental system in May, aimed at improving stability for the state's 2.3 million renters.
But Ms Adams is concerned the system is still unfairly weighted in favour of landlords, who have more resources to pursue tenants through the tribunal system.
"Not only did I feel powerless going to NCAT, but I had lost everything," she said.