Body found after 'suspicious' house fire near Ipswich

A body has been found after a house fire at Bellbird Park, west of Brisbane, with a man in his 30s taken to Ipswich Hospital with smoke inhalation and burns. Police were called to the Verran Street address around 5pm on Thursday to find the building engulfed in flames. What's next? With residents reporting they had smelled petrol in the area, Queensland Police say they are treating the fire as "suspicious". A person has died in a "suspicious" house fire at Bellbird Park, west of Brisbane, with neighbours reporting they had smelled petrol in the area. The gender of the person who died has not been revealed. Emergency crews were called to the Verran Street address around 5pm on Thursday after receiving reports from nearby residents. Matthew Vanderbyl, Queensland Police's southern region assistant commissioner, said the house had already been completely engulfed when emergency services arrived and it took hours to put out. A man in his 30s was taken to Ipswich Hospital in a stable condition, with minor smoke inhalation and burns. A Queensland Ambulance spokesperson said paramedics were cleared to leave the property afterwards, unaware another person was still inside. A crime scene was declared overnight, until it was safe to enter the house and search for others today. "The entire top storey of that two-storey house had collapsed onto the remainder of the house rendering it quite unsafe to get into," he said. "This morning, the remains of a person were found on the top floor of that house. "That's a terrible way for someone to perish and our thoughts go out to that family. "We will do a lot of work over the weekend to try and identify that individual and to advise their family and bring some closure to those people." According to Assistant Commissioner Vanderbyl, the property was meant to be vacant at the time. "I understand it had been vacated only weeks earlier," he said. "Whether or not people had been evicted, it had been vacated or the house was just unoccupied we don't know." Assistant Commissioner Vanderbyl said the circumstances around the fire had raised the suspicions of police. "There were reports of the smell of petrol around the areas at the time," he said. "We are very much treating that as suspicious. "If anyone has CCTV from the surrounding streets, we would really welcome you engaging with us.