Man 'tried to save' woman from house fire

The memory of Alexis Parkes pleading for help from her burning house still haunts neighbour Michael Kramarenko.

Fighting back tears, Mr Kramarenko told Brisbane Supreme Court that Ms Parkes came to the window when he ran over to her Chermside residence in February 2020 before the fire spread.

"I said 'you have to get out of the house'. She said she couldn't get out, that her boyfriend had locked her in there and taken the keys," he told the jury on Tuesday.

James Morton Mason has pleaded guilty to arson.

However, the 46-year-old has entered a not guilty plea to murder after telling police he did not consider the consequences of the fire and didn't intend to hurt his partner.

Ms Parkes, 50, died days after emergency services found her unresponsive in the burning house.

Mr Kramarenko almost broke down as he described the morning he tried to save Ms Parkes before she became engulfed in pitch black smoke.

"I have never forgotten it. It is exactly the same as the night I seen her," he said.

"I remember it every single day, every single night. I can't go to sleep at night because I am frightened there is going to be another fire."

Mr Kramarenko said there was an altercation at Ms Parkes' residence earlier that evening and heard her asking someone to leave before a male walked away swearing.

He was awoken after 4am by someone screaming "your house is on fire" and saw Ms Parkes' residence was alight, the court was told.

Racing to her front stairs, Mr Kramarenko said he saw three fires under her house including one beneath a car before he yelled out and Ms Parkes came to the window.

Mr Kramarenko said he repeatedly tried to kick in the front door after Ms Parkes told him the residence's master keys had been taken.

"She kept on asking me to help her," he said.

Mr Kramarenko said the front stairs he was standing on began to catch alight as the fire took hold and he suggested Ms Parkes head to the back door.

He lost sight of her amid thick smoke filling the house.

"I couldn't see anything after that," an emotional Mr Kramarenko said.

He jumped off the burning stairs and headed to the back door, but it was already ablaze, the jury was told.

Wearing only boxer shorts, Mr Kramarenko said the heat was "getting intense" so he ran to approaching fire crews for assistance.

Emergency services found Ms Parkes and were able to revive her.

She was taken to hospital but later died from multiple organ failure due to the effects of the fire, crown prosecutor Mark Green said.

Mason told police he had an argument with Ms Parkes earlier that evening, the court heard.

Mr Green said Ms Parkes sent a text to Mason's daughter that evening saying: "If you want to save your father from going to jail for bashing me up just now call him or I will call the police to get him out of my place".

Mason told police after the fight he removed his belongings downstairs and returned to the house, using petrol and a candle to set alight a car parked under the house almost directly beneath Ms Parkes' bedroom, Mr Green said.

The trial before Justice David Jackson continues.