Ari Laver said he ran out thinking his wife of 32 years was close behind after a fire erupted at their residence in Brisbane's south.
"I tried to run back to the front stairs when I realised my wife had not come down," he tearfully told reporters on Wednesday.
"The last thing that she will remember is that I ran past her.
"We tried to pull the hose through ... within seconds it was just a wall of smoke."
His wife Leanne Laver and a family friend Phillip Gordon died in the fire that engulfed the Kingston home on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Laver, two of his children and a housemate were able to escape.
Ms Laver had been battling stage four lymphoma but was "making good progress" before tragedy struck, her husband said.
"My wife didn't deserve that," he said.
"I'm not feeling anything except I should have died with my wife, and what am I going to do for my kids?
"That's all that's going through my head."
Mr Laver said he believed close mate Mr Gordon had run back into the house to save their pet cats.
Neighbours had tried to help as the blaze engulfed the home, local councillor Teresa Lane told AAP.
"I think the neighbours appreciated that family. The lady across the road and other neighbours were calling out, trying to make sure everyone was out," she said.
Daughter Chloe Laver launched a GoFundMe campaign to help rebuild their lives after the "unimaginable tragedy".
"While my father, my brother and I managed to escape with just the clothes on our backs, our lives have been forever changed," she wrote.
"Right now, we have absolutely nothing and nowhere to turn.
"We are relying entirely on the kindness of our community for basic everyday necessities like food and clothing."
She paid tribute to her mother who had appeared to be improving after a "long, gruelling battle" with blood cancer.
"We finally believed the worst was behind us. In an instant, the fire took her from us," she said.
In an unrelated incident, a man was found dead in a shed on Wednesday night after a fire on the Sunshine coast.
His identity is yet to be confirmed but police believe the man was in his 60s and was using the abandoned shed as shelter.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said neighbours heard an explosion but the fire's cause was yet to be established.
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