Luckily nobody was home as two-storey home in Levin home gutted by fire

A fire that gutted a two-storey home in central Levin last Friday took hold so quickly the best efforts of fast-acting fire crews were powerless to stop it causing major internal damage.

Neighbours called emergency services and did their best to douse the flames with a garden hose. But their efforts were in vain.

Huge flames that engulfed the Konini St house shortly after 10am on Friday and sent thick black smoke skyward, which acted like a magnet to a large crowd of onlookers.

Five crews from Fire and Emergency - two from Levin, two from Foxton and one each from Shannon and Waitarere Beach - worked hard for more than two hours to subdue the blaze.

Emergency services were first alerted by neighbour and nightshift worker PJ Karauna-Wharerimu, who was in bed and fast asleep when the fire broke out.

Levin nightshift worker PJ Karauna-Wharerimu lives next door and sounded the alarm, ringing 111 immediately.

He was woken by a bang at his front door. The knock was from an elderly couple that were walking past, alerting him to the fire.

Karauna-Wharerimu had only just fallen asleep after working through the night until 6am. He immediately dialled 111 while his younger brother took to the fire over the fence with a garden hose.

But their efforts were futile and the blaze quickly took hold. Such was the heat, they were forced to stand on the other side of the road.

"You could feel it on your face," he said.

He said he knew the home's owner was at work in Wellington, but they wanted to do what they could to save his house.

Karauna-Wharerimu said he was amazed at how quickly Fire and Emergency Service arrived at the scene. He said it felt like they were there within 10 minutes of his call.

But he was also amazed at how quickly the house was engulfed in flame, causing windows to start smashing under the extreme heat.

"It went up so quickly," he said.

Tanja Ankins happened to be driving past and said she was horrified by how quickly the flames had taken hold.

"It was a horrifying sight. The second storey was all in flames," she said.

She was concerned that someone may have been inside and pleased to learn no one had been hurt.

Crews from Fire and Emergency New Zealand were quickly at the scene of house fire in Konini Street, but it was already well ablaze.

The fire had been subdued by the time the home's owner arrived back to Levin after being told the news, but by then the house was gutted.

The owner was renovating the house and had worked on it the night before.

Once the site was deemed safe to enter, fire investigators conducted a scene examination to see if it was possible to determine the cause of the fire.