Fire destroys unoccupied house near Te Araroa

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A home alongside State Highway 35 north of Te Araroa was destroyed in a blaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The cause remains under investigation.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received the first 111 call about the fire in the unoccupied 3-4 bedroom house at around 4am that morning.

There was nothing the firefighters called to the incident could do to save the house.

“It was almost on the ground when we got there,” said Te Araroa chief fire officer Dick Cook.

His crew were first to arrive.

“The roof had already collapsed,” CFO Cook said.

“All we could do was dampen down the remains until crews arrived from Hicks Bay, Tikitiki and Ruatōria to help us.”

CFO Cook said there was some concern initially that people may have been living in the house, but that turned out not to be the case.

“We were told a young couple living there moved out a couple of weeks ago.

“It looks like the fire started on the eastern side of the house and gradually moved through it to the north,” he said.

How the fire got started is being investigated.

“The cause remains undetermined at this stage,” said FENZ Tairāwhiti community risk manager Trudi Hicklin.

“It’s not being treated as suspicious.”