Body recovered from North Lakes house fire, police declare crime scene

The body of an elderly woman has been recovered from a massive house fire north of Brisbane where neighbours described flames ‘double the size of the house’.

The 75-year-old female resident of a house devastated by fire is believed to be the victim of the blaze.

The fire broke out at the house in Hervey St, North Lakes, north of Brisbane, just before 10.30am today.

Multiple fire crews arrived to find the roof collapsed. The fire was brought under control in minutes.

A crime scene has been established. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

The aftermath of the North Lakes house fire. Picture: Annette Dew

Moreton region police inspector Craig White confirmed a body was located in the house.

“We have discovered an unknown deceased person in the house, the search of the residence has discovered that there are no people in the house other than that one person,” he said.

He said an elderly lady was the only person living at the home.

Insp. White said several animals lived in the home.

“There were some animals in the house, a couple of dogs are in the care of QAS who are looking after them at the moment and we also have some other animals we haven’t located yet.”

Diby Dehghan rescued two of the dogs living on the property when he saw the blaze.

“I’m going to pick up a dirt bike and I’ve just pulled up and parked my car in the middle of the road,” he said.

“I’ve pulled up, screamed out to my girlfriend to come out of her house, I just started to pull the fence down to get into her backyard because I knew there was dogs.”

He said he helped two of the dogs escape, but he knew she also owned several cats.

One neighbour said the flames were “double the size of the house” when she heard explosions from two streets over.

A person is feared dead in a North Lakes house fire. Picture: Facebook

Acting superintendent for the Brisbane and Moreton zone Simon Evans said 30 firefighters attended the scene to battle the blaze.

“At the height of the incident we had 30 firefighters and 10 fire appliances,” he said.

“On arrival we found a very well advanced structure fire, fire crews went inside and conducted firefighting operations.”

He said fire investigators would work alongside police to determine the cause of the blaze.

Fire fighters attend North Lakes fire. Picture: Facebook

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said seven crews arrived at around 10.27am to find the residence “well involved” and the roof collapsed.

“Seven crews conducted an external attack and the fire was under controls by 10.37am with crew members currently knocking down pockets of fire,” the QFES spokesman said.

Police are working to determine the specifics of what happened as firefighters continue to extinguish the blaze.