A Mount Maunganui home was saved from major damage after smoke alarms alerted occupants to a fire in the kitchen.
Tauranga Fire Brigade senior station officer Phil Price said a pot of oil was left on the stove of a Terrace Ave home and a fire started.
The smoke alarm was set off and the fire brigade arrived at the house just before 10pm.
"We had to remove the range hood and ducting, cut away part of the wall and ceiling to check the spread of the fire. The fire had begun to spread to the ceiling.
"The smoke alarm basically saved their property, the fire was just getting going. It saved them for what could have been an extensive fire in the house."
