But after helping six people out of a burning home west of Brisbane, they quickly realised someone was still inside the inferno.
"Someone kept shouting someone's name over and over," neighbour Will Cuffe told AAP.
Hours later a body - believed to be a missing nine-year-old boy - was found in the charred remains.
The Toowoomba community on Wednesday was reeling after the blaze, described by police as suspicious.A 36-year-old woman and two children are in a critical condition after being airlifted to Brisbane hospitals.
The woman is under police guard.
Mr Cuffe had been in bed watching television in Wednesday's early hours when he heard yelling and glass shattering at his neighbour's home.
Running outside he saw smoke coming from his neighbour's window.
Within three minutes, an out-of-control fire had erupted.
"This blaze just went up, people screaming, kids screaming," he said.
Mr Cuffe called triple zero while other neighbours rushed to try and help people in the burning property.
Six people including the woman, two men aged 34 and 18 and three children aged four to 11, were helped out of the house.
One of them repeatedly screamed a name before emergency services arrived and eventually extinguished the blaze, later confirming a fourth child was missing.
A body believed to be the missing boy was discovered inside the charred remains but a formal identification is yet to be completed.
The house remained a crime scene on Wednesday afternoon as police investigated the blaze's cause with homicide detectives called in.
"At this time, police are not looking for anyone else in connection to this incident," a Queensland Police statement said.
The woman and two girls - aged four and seven - were airlifted to Brisbane hospitals and remain in a critical condition.
Both men were taken to a Toowoomba hospital with the 34-year-old in a stable condition with serious injuries while the 18-year-old is believed to have a hand injury.
An 11-year-old boy was uninjured, police said.
"This is a tragic event and we are deeply saddened by this incident," Detective Inspector Renee Garske told reporters.
"Our hearts go out to the Toowoomba community at this time and the family and friends of the persons involved in this incident."
Mr Cuffe said he had lived on the street for five years but had not interacted with the house fire victims.
"You see the kids walking back from school when we knocked off work and that was it," he said.Â
"No one ever in the street really sees that family."
Det Insp Garske confirmed police would consider any history of domestic violence, suggestions there was an argument before the fire and reports the woman went to a police station on Tuesday.
Authorities combed through the property's charred remains but Mr Cuffe said there was little left of his neighbour's home.
"They might as well just demolish it. She's just fully burnt down to a crisp," he said.
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