Girl, 8, dead, woman missing, feared dead, in unit block fire at Thorneside, south of Brisbane

New details have emerged of neighbours’ heroic attempts to save “beautiful, well-loved” little girl who died in a “ferocious” fire south of Brisbane, as tributes begin to flow and authorities continue to hold grave concerns for her missing babysitter.

New details have emerged of neighbours’ heroic attempts to save “pretty, well-loved” little girl who died in a townhouse fire south of Brisbane, as tributes begin to flow and authorities continue to hold grave concerns for her missing babysitter.

Neighbours of the Thorneside townhouse desperately fought the blaze with garden hoses, fire extinguishers and even buckets of water but they were unable to save those inside.

Eight-year-old Raven lost her life in a house inferno in Brisbane's south on Sunday. Photo: supplied

Eight-year-old Raven Contini perished in the blaze, and firefighters hold grave fears for her babysitter, a woman in her 30s, who was still unaccounted for on Sunday night.

Raven’s mother Chloe Rodgers-Falk and stepfather Matthew Rodgers-Falk were understood to be in Ballina, northern NSW, and raced home after receiving the news.

Another man who lived at the property and was not home at the time of the fire told The Courier Mail that he had lost everything in the blaze.

Police outside the Thorneside unit complex. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Queensland Police Service Chief Inspector Karl Hahne said police, fire and ambulance officers arrived to find two units engulfed by fire that was “burning very hot”.

Neighbour Elliot Harris on Monday described the frantic moment fellow residents at the complex rushed to provide assistance before firefighters arrived.

Mr Harris told The Courier-Mail he was woken by his partner Francisca Espinoza after the fire alarm went off before rushing out to help.

“I come outside and seen the smoke billowing out of the windows and there’s a guy standing out the front of the house screaming that there’s a kid inside,” he said.

“So a bunch of neighbours were running around, grabbing hoses, trying to get some water on the fire.

“Some of the guys ran over to the garage, started to rip it off, and then a bunch of us went to help him.

“We managed to get the garage door up and out.

“There was too much debris and there was that much smoke coming out we couldn’t get in.

“We didn’t hear any screaming, only the sound of the fire.

“We started to use a couple hoses to put the fire out, but it was just that ferocious, there was no getting in there.

“At that point, my partner is yelling at me that the motorbike next to me is on fire and the fuel tank is starting to ignite, everyone kind of scattered, ran back, and that is when the firefighters started to arrive.”

Tributes at the scene of the fatal fire where eight-year-old Raven Contini lost her life. Picture: Richard Walker

The roof of the townhouse collapsed in the inferno, hampering search efforts. Nearby homes were also damaged.

“Tragically, we have located on person deceased inside the premises,” Insp Hahne said.

“One person is still unaccounted for, however we have a strong belief that person is also in the fire scene.”

Police said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.

“Our thoughts go out to the family and to those affected, and certainly for all the residents around here who have seen this unfold, it’s quite a confronting scene,” he said.

Firefighters at the scene of a fatal house fire at Bayside Court, Thorneside. Picture: Lachie Millard

Mr Harris said he and his partner are still processing what happened in their street on Sunday.

“It’s really surreal and it hit pretty hard just seeing a guy yell at you saying that there’s a child inside,” he said.

“The first thing was to try and actually do something about it, but at that point, it was already too late.

“The fire had spread around to the top of the house and it was within a few minutes after that, the roof started caving in.

“If anyone went in there, they probably weren’t going to come back.”

Flowers, notes, and a solemn peace symbol tribute with a lone candle were on Monday seen placed at the entrance to unit complex.

One note placed at the tribute site reads “Fly high beautiful girl”, while a second note reads “You tried everything you could. To the beautiful girl fly high. You know that everyone loved you. Even though I didn’t know you – you will be deeply missed.”

Police remained on scene on Monday morning, with neighbours praising them for the level of respect they have shown.

Neighbours told how police advised them to look away as Raven was being taken away from the scene.

Tributes have been laid at a Thorneside unit complex, where a ferocious townhouse fire claimed the life of eight-year-old Raven Contini, while her babysitter remains missing. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Raven’s uncle and aunt Robert Arthur and Christine Mary Rodgers-Falk on Sunday told 9 News: “She loved shopping, loved socialising, she was a very special, very well-loved girl.

“Her nickname was turtle.

“She was very pretty and she lifted us up when we saw her.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by relative Jo Pettigrew to support Raven’s family.

“As many would know Chloe and Matt had a fire go through their town house and tragically took the life of Raven their eight-year-old daughter and close friend Steph,” Ms Pettigrew posted.

“Any donations will go to help them try to rebuild their lives after this terrible tragedy.”

Neighbours at the scene on Monday. Picture: Richard Walker

Neighbour Xia Sheng was in her garden about 6.40am when she saw flames creeping out of the kitchen of the neighbouring home.

Ms Sheng jumped into action, throwing buckets of water over the fence.

“I looked up and I saw fire inside the kitchen, I said oh my goodness. I put maybe 20 buckets on the fire,” Ms Sheng said.

An eight-year-old girl has died in a townhouse fire at Thorneside. Picture: Lachie Millard

“I called for my son, and he ran to the property managers and they alerted (emergency services).”

Another resident, Kylie Spalding, said she heard glass shattering, loud bangs and then smoke.

“It was massive, absolutely ferocious. People were screaming help me, help me (to fight the fire),” she said.

“There was a couple who came from neighbouring houses who tried to rip open the garage door to get inside.”

Queensland Fire Department acting superintendent Andrew Richards described efforts from neighbouring residents and an off-duty firefighter as heroic.

Supt Richards said it took more than an hour to contain the blaze due to its intensity.

A townhouse was destroyed while two others were badly damaged in the blaze. Picture: Lachie Millard

Originally published as Girl, 8, dead, woman missing, feared dead, in unit block fire at Thorneside, south of Brisbane