A vehicle fire that spread to a nearby house in Welcome Bay is being treated as suspicious.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Dallas Ramsay said firefighters were alerted to the blaze along Welcome Bay Rd in Waitao at 4.45am today.
Initial reports were that a utility vehicle was well-involved and the fire then spread to the house, but the extent of the damage to the house was unknown.
Firefighters from Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Greerton brigades attended the blaze and police also visited the property, she said.
Ramsay said the fire was being "treated as suspicious" and a fire investigator was called to the scene to investigate the cause.
