Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are cautioned that this story includes an image of a deceased person.

A heartbroken father has offered poignant tributes to his two young children who tragically lost their lives in a house fire in central Queensland. As authorities work to uncover the cause of the blaze, he fondly remembered his daughter as his “little princess” and his son as his “best little mate.”

The fire claimed the lives of five-month-old Desmond and one-year-old Maddison when flames overtook their home on Opal Street in Emerald yesterday morning.

Sadly, the disaster also took the lives of 36-year-old Mathew Chilly and 15-year-old Cameron Chilly.

The mother of the young children and another woman, who were in the house during the fire, managed to escape and were subsequently hospitalized.

The fire broke out shortly before 7am (8am AEDT).

It took authorities 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze, assisted by desperate neighbours with garden hoses and water bottles.

The children’s father, Jake Symons, is understood to have been away in Toowoomba for medical treatment at the time.

“My Maddy moo, my first love, my everything… I’m sorry I wasn’t there my little princess,” he wrote on social media alongside a photo of him with his daughter.

“I had so many things I wanted to show u… lil man we’ll have that vb and kick the footy around in the next life,” he wrote alongside a photo of his son.

Detective Acting Inspector Brett Richard today said investigators were not treating the fire as suspicious but wanted to provide answers for the family.

“Our forensic and scientific teams are there currently,” he said.

“Any scene that’s been damaged to a certain degree by fire does not leave much clues or evidence for us.

“We will continue until we can provide those answers.”

He said police were pursuing several lines of inquiry including whether an e-scooter battery played a part in the blaze.

Richard said information from the public was crucial to the investigation and asked anyone in the vicinity of Opal Street between 6am and 7am yesterday to come forward, including anyone with CCTV or dashcam video.

The homicide squad is not involved in the investigation, he said.

He said first responders would be offered support.

The family is rallying to help surviving members through an online fundraising page.

The children’s great aunt, Sally Woulfe, yesterday said the tragedy would affect a lot of people in the small community.

“They were loved, they’re an Aboriginal family so lots of aunties, lots of uncles,” Woulfe told 9News.