Human remains found after shed fire at Biggenden
A week out from her wedding, a Queensland mother is grieving the unfathomable loss of her husband-to-be and 10-year-old daughter after a ferocious fire at a rural property west of Maryborough. DETAILS.
Emergency Services
Don't miss out on the headlines from Emergency Services. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A mother and popular business owner is enduring the unfathomable loss of both her fiance and young daughter after their bodies were discovered in a burned down shed.
Todd Mooney, 54 and his daughter Kirra, 10, were found after the ferocious fire destroyed the building on the rural property at Biggenden, about an hour west of Maryborough on Tuesday.
Mr Mooney and his fiance Bec Hansen own the Biggenden Bakery.
While police have not yet been able to confirm the cause of the blaze, police are currently treating it as a tragic accident.
On Thursday, a police spokesman said the remains of the Mr Mooney and his daughter had been retrieved from the scene.
“Police are attempting to make the structure safe for scientific police and fire investigators to commence their investigations today,” he said.
“A report will be prepared for the coroner.”
Speaking to reporters in Maryborough on Wednesday, Inspector Gary Pettiford said Christmas was supposed to be a happy time for families and the couple was due to marry next week.
Insp Pettiford said fire investigators and forensic police were currently at the scene.
“This investigation will go for at least two to three days before we know anything concrete as to exactly what’s happened.”
Insp Pettiford said the residential home had not been affected by the blaze.
He said it was a devastating incident for the Biggenden community.
“What makes the incident more tragic was the fact that the male involved and the female adult were due to get married next week, next Wednesday.
“So the whole thing is very tragic for the community out there and they were actually getting married at the property.”
Insp Pettiford said Ms Hansen was in shock and distraught.
“It will be a long time before she comes to terms with the loss of not only her partner but her daughter.”
Visibly distraught family and friends gathered at the Biggenden home on Wednesday.
While nobody at the property wanted to speak to the media, it’s understood the Mooneys made the move from the coast to the country, arriving from Burnett Heads at a time when Biggenden’s bakery had been closed for 10 weeks.
In a 2019 article celebrating the reopening of the bakery under new owners, Mr Mooney told Central and North Burnett Times he’d been a baker for more than 30 years and the Biggenden community was “making us feel welcome”.
On Wednesday, an ominous sign on the bakery door read that it was closed due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
The Mount Perry General Store posted on its Facebook page that due to a “tragic accident”, the bakery could no longer supply the shop with bread, pies and sausage rolls.
Poppy Lane Boutique posted on its page that it was selling copies of the Courier Mail for cash only so they could pass the money on to the bakery owners who ordinarily sold the paper each day.
“It will be available at the front counter,” the post reads
“We are doing this for the bakery so not sure how long we will have papers, please bear with us.”
A neighbour said she was away from her property and saw the plume of smoke from a distance, fearing it was her home on fire.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she rushed home only to realise the blaze had broken out at the home next door.
She said she was “feeling devastated” for everyone involved.
Earlier, a Queensland Ambulance spokesman confirmed paramedics attended the scene but the two patients were deceased.
A neighbour said she was away from her property and saw the plume of smoke from a distance, fearing it was her home on fire.
Missing woman identified, as hero neighbours tell of battle to save little Raven
New details have emerged of neighbours’ desperate attempts to save a “well-loved” little girl who died in a ferocious fire, with grave concerns for her missing babysitter, who has been identified.
Read more
Qld homeowners warned to prepare for looming cyclone season
As Queensland braces for another cyclone season, experts urge homeowners to prepare, with alarming statistics revealing most households lack adequate disaster plans.
Read more