A fire which came close to claiming seven lives in Kaikohe this week was most likely caused by an electrical fault, a fire investigator says.
When firefighters arrived at the Wihongi St home just after 6.30am on Wednesday the garage was burning fiercely and the adjoining house was minutes away from "flashover", the point at which it would have been totally engulfed in flames.
Three adults and four children were asleep inside the house at the time but were saved by neighbours who saw the blaze and managed to wake them up.
Deputy fire chief Wiremu Matene said all seven could have died had it not been for their neighbours.
The house was fitted with smoke alarms but none had batteries.