Two people are fighting for their lives after a house fire in Queensland's north has been declared.
A 47-year-old woman and 65-year-old man suffered severe burns in the blaze which gutted the home in the rural town of Ayr early this morning.
They were flown to a critical hospital in Townsville in a critical condition and are receiving treatment.
The police officer and paramedics arrived at the property hours before the fire to respond to mental health concerns, according to Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson.
He said police received a call about some comments made at the residence, so they went and attended and spoke to both residents who were there at the time.
Neighbours raised the alarm about three hours later, just after 5:30 am, when they saw flames coming from the house.
A man in his 20s who tried to help was taken to the hospital in a stable condition suffering from smoke inhalation.
The crime scene had been established and investigations were underway, according to Acting Chief Superintendent Lawson.
We haven't established the cause of the fire at this point, so we're not going to speculate as to how the fire started until we can actually firm up exactly what's happened, he said.
We will speak to both parties as soon as we can, because we're in constant contact with Queensland Health in relation to the condition of both parties. The man and woman were in a relationship, according to the police.
Matthew Green, Queensland Ambulance Service Assistant Commissioner, said it was a confronting incident for first responders.
It's a fairly tragic situation as far as I'm concerned and at the moment we're looking after the welfare of our staff that have had to attend that event, he said.