The bodies of two people have been recovered from a burnt out home in Brisbane’s west which was completely gutted by a blazexjmtzyw.
Emergency services were called to the Collingwood Park home, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police Senior Sergeant Heath McQueen told reporters firefighters had to force entry into the house which was already engulfed by flames.
“The emergency services crews arrived within several minutes of the call being made and there was already smoke billowing from the eaves – so I‘d suggest that fire took hold fairly quickly,” Mr McQueen said.
The bodies of a 68-year-old woman and 73-year-old man were located inside before emergency services managed to extinguish the blaze.
They were later identified as Christine and Joseph Stephan, the sole occupants of the two-storey home.
Tributes have since flooded on social media with friends describing the couple as “kind and extremely generous”.
“We will miss Joe’s crazy humour and Christine’s incredible warmth,” one wrote.
Mr Stephan’s worked as a salesman for Ray White Redbank Plains. The business has since posted a tribute to its employee.
“We cannot put into words how saddened we were to hear of the tragic passing of Joe and Christine Stephan as all of us had such a wonderful friendship with them over many years,” a spokesman for Ray White Redbank Plains wrote.
Investigations are still underway as authorities conduct interviews, check CCTV footage and door knock around the neighbourhood.
There were no domestic violence orders between the couple, but the relationship between the pair will form an “integral part” of the investigation, Mr McQueen said.
An autopsy will determine the pair’s exact cause of their death.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
