Woman found safe after Dandenong Ranges home gutted by fire
An Upwey mother who went missing after her house burst into flames - with her teenage daughter inside - has been located safe 14 hours later in a shopping centre.
But her whereabouts in the intervening time remain a mystery.
The woman’s daughter, believed to be about 16, was forced to climb out of a bedroom window to escape the blaze which engulfed the family’s home in the Dandenong Ranges, about 11pm Monday.
A widespread search for the 43-year-old mother, which included a helicopter, took place in the hours after the fire.
After eventually being located, it’s understood she was taken to hospital for a welfare check.
The Glenfern Avenue house was completely destroyed in the blaze with firefighters finding the woman’s daughter on the front lawn of the house.
The fire has since been deemed non-suspicious.
Earlier, a neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she heard loud bangs and popping and could see one side of the house engulfed by flames before the blaze spread.
Dozens of firefighters worked to control the house fire, which was deemed under control by 11.15pm.
The CFA said the house was fully engulfed when crews arrived with the exact cause of the blaze under investigation.
Other neighbours described hearing a loud noise before seeing flames pouring out of the property.
“Basically it was a big bang and we came out and flames were higher than the trees nearly,” neighbour Brodie Leathem told Channel Nine.
“Hopefully everyone’s alright.”
The teenage daughter was later picked up by her father who does not live at the house.
The neighbour said the woman also had a son, but that he was staying elsewhere at the time.
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