A body has been found in the search for a mother and her two children who are missing after a house fire near Ballarat.
Neighbours reported hearing an explosion before flames ripped through the single-storey brick home in Mount Helen just before 1.30am on Friday.
The blaze had fully engulfed the home by the time two dozen firefighters arrived at Greenhill Road. The fire was contained, but the home was destroyed.
Victoria Police Sergeant Mark Chapman said police saw a body in the bedroom of the smouldering home early on Friday, but it was too dangerous to enter the home to recover the remains.
“We have seen one body we have not been able to identify,” he said. “We have three [people] unaccounted for.”
The cause of the fire was not known but it was not considered suspicious, he said.
Police said a mother, aged 43, and her two children, a man and woman both aged 21, had lived in the house. Neighbours said a family moved into the home last weekend.
Firefighters described how it took 90 minutes to bring the fire under control.
“It was an extremely intense fire,” said CFA duty officer Kade Dowie.
“There was quite a lot of fuel loading inside the house, from contents and clothing and other materials like that, which has contributed to quite extensive fire behaviour.
“The roof has collapsed too, which caused difficulties for firefighters as they were unable to gain access.”
Arson and explosives squad detectives arrived on scene at first light.
– with Allison Worrall
This story first appeared in The Age
