THE woman badly burnt in a house fire in Brisbane that killed popular marine skipper Kenji Suda has been charged with arson and murder.

Sakura Suda, 43, was charged at a bedside hearing.

She has been remanded in custody and is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court of February 13, 2012.

A police spokesman said Sakura Suda was under guard in hospital.

Investigations into how the blaze started are still continuing.

Mr Suda became the fifth house fire victim this week, after his townhouse in Runcorn, in Brisbane's south, went up in flames on Tuesday night.

Mrs Suda was able to escape the devastating and quick-burning fire, but Mr Suda's body was found on Wednesday afternoon by emergency services among the blackened rubble.

Mr Suda, from Japan, is believed to have been in Australia for 10 years and had worked as a CityCat operator and most recently as a master driving ferries at Big Red Cat.

Witnesses and neighbours said the fire started about 9.45pm Tuesday with a "massive" explosion.

It is believed Mrs Suda was on the top floor of the three-bedroom home when the fire started and she escaped by jumping out a back window, but Mr Suda was trapped downstairs.

As Mrs Suda lay on her front lawn pleading and screaming for someone to save her husband Kenji, neighbours pulled together.

Nathalie Nicolet whisked Mrs Suda away from the fire that destroyed the two-storey home.

Ms Nicolet said she came running outside when she heard Mrs Suda's screams.

"She was on the lawn just screaming, 'my husband's inside'," she said.

Mrs Suda was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital with burns to 20 per cent of her body.

The couple have a daughter, 10, in Japan.