A man is due to appear in court after allegedly burning down a Napier home in March.
Levi J Pauling, 37, of Napier, faces a charge of intentional damage to property by fire knowing that danger to life was likely to ensue.
It is understood the charge is in relation to a large fire which destroyed a house on Creagh St on March 29, and caused significant damage to other neighbouring buildings.
A New Zealand Fire spokesperson said it took six pumps plus a support vehicle to extinguish.
Firefighters were at the scene for nearly four hours.
All the occupants of the house were accounted for, and had no injuries.
Adam Hennessey, who was asleep next door, said at the time that he'd woken to flashing lights from emergency services, which he mistook for a train going by.
The house which he was staying at sustained damage from the fire, with broken windows, melted curtains, and the fire spread into the roof.
"It's thousands of dollars worth of damage, all the weatherboards will have to be replaced, the fire got up into the roof, so all along the eaves has to be replaced, all those weatherboards replaced, we've got broken windows, the glass cracked."
Pauling will appear in court in May.
Napier’s water was once sourced via wells at the White Swan Brewery and Botanical Gardens.