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Australian country music star Adam Brand has revealed he lost several of his music awards in a fire that engulfed his home on the Gold Coast.
The 12-time Golden Guitar-winner was forced to watch the blaze rip through his Maudsland house about midday on Monday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian musician Adam Brand’s home significantly damaged in fire.
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“It was really surreal,” Brand told 7NEWS.
He said he was with two friends doing some work around the front of the house, when they went to a shed to have coffee.
“My neighbour came around the corner saying there was smoke coming from my house,” he said.
“Within 10 minutes, the fire just erupted.”
Firefighters took about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control. By then, it had already brought down a section of roof on the house.
Brand said it wasn’t until he was taken around the house by investigators that the scale of the damage became apparent.
“It doesn’t look like our house anymore,” he said.
Family photos and birth certificates were among the things Brand said were lost in the fire, as well as some of his awards.
Brand said it wasn’t losing the awards that upset him.
“(I’m) more upset about losing my children’s drawings, they mean more to me than the awards,” he said.
He wrote on social media that “the memories and personal treasures lost in the flames are irreplaceable”, but “having my girls safe and unharmed puts everything in perspective”.
An outpouring of support, messages and donations from neighbours bringing food and clothes for the family have flooded the devastated family, who are now sleeping in a shed on their property.
“I really feel the country spirit, and it’s nice to know it’s still alive in this day and age,” Brand said.
“The firies, they were superheroes. I can’t thank those people enough.
“I’m a stranger to them and they came right up to a burning building to help me.”
Brand said it had been a “dark day” but that the support they received made them feel “something good will come from it”.
“It’s gonna be a different kind of Christmas,” he said.
“It shows you how fragile things are and how quickly they can change.”
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