Hastings villa gutted by fire

A fire which gutted a villa in Frimley early yesterday morning is being treated as suspicious. Photo/Duncan Brown

A villa set to be moved from Hastings to Waiheke Island was gutted early yesterday morning and is being treated as suspicious.

The Fire Service were called to the unoccupied home on the corner of Nottingley Rd and Lyndhurst Rd in Frimley at about 2am on Monday.

Hastings Fire Station officer Michael Manning said crews from Napier and Hastings were there within three minutes and found the house "well involved" from the back.

"We launched an aggressive attack and cut the fire off but the structure of the building was about 25 per cent damaged."

"Most of the old villa was native timber, which fuelled the fire. We got in under control and left the scene by about 6am yesterday morning," Mr Manning said.

The owner of the home who wished not to be identified said they were woken in the night by a phone call from a friend notifying them of the fire.

"It is not something you want to hear in the middle of the night. We are very sad and disappointed as the home had beautiful detail inside."

She did not know what she was going to do now as they had plans to move the villa up to Waiheke Island in Auckland in the coming weeks.

"We are just waiting to hear from police as they are investigating so I just hope they catch the culprits."

Detective Ross Alexander said the fire began in the rear porch and spread throughout the villa before it was spotted by a neighbour.

"We are currently treating the fire as suspicious and we would like to hear from anyone who was in the Frimley area around the time of the fire" Mr Alexander said.

This comes after a spate of suspicious fires in the area last year.

Last September Police confirmed six vehicles were destroyed by suspected arson within four months and attempts to burn four others had also been made in the same area.

Mr Alexander said if anyone had any information which would help the investigation people should call Hastings Police on 06 831 0700 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.