Fire crew expects to find babysitter’s body in home where girl died

A girl who loved shopping and socialising and whose family nicknamed her “Turtle” has died, along with her babysitter, in an inferno east of Brisbane while her parents were interstate.

Eight-year-old Raven was being looked after by a babysitter, a 31-year-old woman from interstate. Police located a body, who they believed to be the babysitter, on Monday afternoon.

“A port-mortem and scientific examination will take place to confirm the identities of the deceased,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.

Raven died in an apartment fire at Thorneside while her parents Matthew and Chloe Louise Rodgers-Falk were in NSW.Credit: Facebook

“Investigations are continuing to determine the cause of the fire.”

Raven’s mother Chloe and stepfather Matthew Rodgers-Falk rushed back from Ballina in NSW on Sunday after they heard the news.

One apartment in the Bayside Court unit block at Thorneside was engulfed in flames and the building’s roof collapsed.

Firefighters and paramedics were called about 7.15am as neighbours tried in vain to help.

Neighbour Zac Benjiman said: “I just ran up there, ran up to the back fence [and] screamed out, to see if anyone … I could hear anything.

Emergency service crews at the scene of a fatal house fire in Thorneside.Credit: AAP Image

“But I couldn’t get any closer because of how hot it was.

“As soon as I heard kids … I’ve got my own kids, and I just kicked into gear.”

Family members told Nine News Raven loved cooking, loved shopping, loved socialising, and was a “very special and well-loved eight-year-old” they nicknamed “Turtle”.

With flowers and other tributes being left at the scene, Redlands City Council Mayor Jos Mitchell said it was a “deeply upsetting” incident for the community.

On Monday, Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said witnesses had heard smoke alarms going off at the property.

“I’ve seen some footage of some incredibly brave acts, compassionate acts, done by members of the community there trying to put this fire out and to assist in getting the people out of the premises,” he said.

“But I think it was a futile cause.”

Dalton said Raven’s parents were “obviously devastated” and had been offered support.

A man had been living in the garage who had a “full and frank conversation” with police, Dalton said, but he was not home at the time, and was not considered a suspect.

“There’s nothing to say that this fire is suspicious in any way, but we will treat it as though it is until we make a determination one way or another,” he said.

Fire crews spent Monday trying to stabilise the area around the collapsed roof for investigators to enter the site, where the body of the babysitter was expected to be found.

A family friend who had been living in the garage was treated for smoke inhalation.