A 43 year old woman has died after fire destroyed a Mount Helen house overnight.
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Police originally feared three people may have perished in a house fire on Greenhill Road, but her two 21 year old children have been accounted for.
Neighbours notified police and the CFA after hearing an explosion and seeing flames at the house.
The CFA extinguished the fire but the house was completely destroyed.
Neighbour Margaret Bell said she happened to wake up to get a glass of water when the fire erupted.
"I heard a noise like a firecracker going off," she said.
"Then when that stopped I heard an explosion...out the window I could see the flames."
LISTEN: Neighbour Margaret Bell speaks about the fatal Mount Helen fire.
Ms Bell said the house was well alight by the time she stepped outside and saw the flames reaching overhanging gum trees.
She said she spoke with the occupants of the home a number of times since they moved in last weekend.
The rental home's owners have been notified and have attended the scene this morning.
Detective senior sergeant Dave Hermit has described the incident as a "tragedy."
He said two dogs were also found dead at the property.
Arson Squad Sergeant Mark Chapman told The Courier police had not been able to get inside the house because it was not structurally sound.
"We have seen one body we have not been able to identify," he said.
"We have three (people) unaccounted for."
Sergeant Chapman said the home was a rental property and that the three missing were a mother and her two children.
He also said the fire was not suspicious.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined and detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad are working to determine the cause.
Five fire crews attacked the fire externally, according to Ballarat City Senior Station Officer Neville Collins.
