Emergency services were called to a house fire in Welcome Bay, Tauranga on Wednesday evening. Video / Supplied
A neighbour has described hosing down fences to prevent a fire ripping through a Tauranga home from spreading to other properties.
Fire crews from three stations were called to fight the fire in Pennington Place, Welcome Bay just before 9pm. The cause of the blaze was still under investigation today.
A Pennington Place resident said she called 111 about 8.55pm after hearing a beeping noise and realising it was a fire alarm when she saw a house in the street was on fire.
The woman, who would not be named, said she and two other nearby residents hosed down a fence bordering the burning property to try stop it from spreading until the fire brigade arrived.
The woman said she then went down onto the street and saw many people had congregated on the road, some who were “trying to assist from a distance” because the fire was so fierce.
Another nearby resident described the scene as “crazy” with lots of people arriving for a closer look at the huge fire both on the night and the next day.
She said the flames and pillar of billowing smoke were “massive” and probably could be seen by most people across Welcome Bay.
Emergency services were called to a house fire in Welcome Bay on Wednesday evening.
She said on Thursday there had been a constant stream of vehicles arriving in the street to see the extensively damaged house.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) shift manager Lauren Sika said fire crews and support vehicles from Tauranga, Greerton and Mount Maunganui stations attended the single-storey house fire in Pennington Place, Welcome Bay on Wednesday night.
The blaze measured about 8m by 10m.
Sika told the Bay of Plenty Times Fenz received multiple 111 calls shortly before 9pm and the house was “well ablaze” when the first fire crew arrived at 9.04pm.
She said the fire was out by 9.46pm, and firefighters stayed to dampen down hotspots.
Fire ripped through a Pennington Place property in Welcome Bay on Wednesday evening. Photo / Sandra Conchie
A fire investigator visited the property earlier today and inquiries were ongoing.
It was not known whether anyone was inside the house when the fire started, she said.
A police spokeswoman earlier said a person had been arrested following a report of an alleged assault after a fire broke out at a Pennington Place property on Wednesday night.
A woman was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
