A neighbour may have saved the life of a woman after he raised the alarm that her house was on fire.
The house in the Watea subdivision near Haruru Falls was destroyed in the blaze yesterday morning that had started in a car parked in the garage.
Fire safety officer Craig Bain said the fire quickly spread from the car into the garage and then into the roof cavity of the house.
Neighbours on one side of the house said they knew nothing about the fire until they heard explosions soon before 9.30am.
By the time they got outside to see what had caused them, flames were shooting out of the roof of the house. The alarm had been raised a short time earlier by another neighbour who saw flames coming from the garage, rushed across and banged on the door in case anyone was in the house. His actions alerted the woman who was still inside.