Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, and three-year-olds Leyton and Logan were found under a bed (Picture: Enterprise News and Pictures)
The four boys were pronounced dead in hospital after efforts to save them on the pavement failed.
Inhalation of fire fumes was later given as their cause of death.
Ms Rose was taken in by neighbours when she returned to the property as firefighters still tackled the flames, Ms Lumsdon said.
The boys’ father Dalton Hoath, from whom Ms Rose was separated, also attended the scene, jurors heard.
Firefighters went back into the property in search of a woman called Jade, who Ms Rose claimed she’d left her children with, the prosecutor told the court.
Ms Rose maintained this claim in a prepared statement after her arrest.
But firefighters found no sign of Jade in the property, and extensive inquiries led to the ‘firm conclusion’ that Jade either did not exist or played no part in events of that evening.
Ms Lumsdon said: ‘Despite following all the leads provided by Ms Rose and conducting their own investigations, the police could find no trace of Jade.’
A fire investigation found the blaze was caused by a discarded cigarette or upturned tea light candle near the sofa in the downstairs front room, and spread by igniting rubbish on the floor.
Rose, of Wallington, south London, has denied the charges against her. The trial continues.