"Two women - believed to be twin sisters who had waged a long battle against anorexia and substance abuse - have died after a fire tore through a home unit south of Geelong last night.

Firefighters were called to the unit block in Camira Court in Grovedale about 9.40pm after neighbours reported smelling smoke.

Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighters extinguished the blaze and found the body of a woman, believed to be in her early 40s, in the lounge room.

Another woman, also believed to be aged in her early 40s, was pulled from the house with life-threatening injuries and flown to The Alfred hospital but died just after 6am.

The dead women are reportedly identical twin sisters Rachel and Clare Wallmeyer, who have publicly battled anorexia for the past decade. 

Police could not confirm those reports.

In 2004, the women were just 32 kilograms when they featured on the Channel Nine program 60 Minutes and spoke about their battle with the eating disorder. They also revealed they had made a pact to starve themselves until they weighed just 25 kilograms, at which point they believed they would die.

‘‘We live to die,’’ Rachel told the program.

The sisters grew up in Melbourne and excelled at school and sport, before developing anorexia at the age of 14.

‘‘When we got anorexia, it was the first time that we got recognised. People actually verbally said to us, ‘Oh, gee, you’ve lost weight,’ and we thought, ‘Hey, this is an achievement here’,’’ Clare told 60 Minutes.

Asked how their mother and father, Moya and Bob, would feel if they died, Rachel said: ‘‘I think they’d probably go through the mourning processes. They’d be devastated at first. But the world keeps turning.’’

They also revealed during the program that they had attempted suicide numerous times, and had turned to amphetamines and other hard drugs during their battle.

They also came to the attention of police on numerous occasions.

In 2010, Rachel was charged with the attempted murder of her sister.

During the court case, police said Rachel was allegedly caught in the act of trying to throttle her sister when police arrived at their Grovedale flat.

The twins, who had reconciled by the time the case went to court, were extremely drunk when the incident occurred, the court heard.

Rachel told 60 Minutes that anorexia was an ‘‘insidious disease’’.

‘‘I think the biggest lesson that we could teach people is anorexia is an insidious disease, a mental disease that has physical implications that kill and those that suffer it, unless they have something to fight for, die,’’ she said.

Radio station 3AW reported today that family friends rushed to the scene this morning and confirmed the twins lived at the unit.

Both women were found lying on the loungeroom floor. Rachel died at the scene while Clare, who suffered extensive burns, died this morning at The Alfred hospital.

Neighbours told 3AW that it was common for police to stop by the unit. One family friend said the twins had been doing well recently, however alcohol had had a negative impact on their progress.

A CFA spokesman said 25 firefighters extinguished the blaze within five minutes of arriving at the unit, however there was a lot of smoke and the unit appeared to have been burning for some time.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said initial investigations suggested the fire was not suspicious, however detectives from the arson and explosives squad remained at the scene overnight and are yet to determine the cause of the fire."