Whangarei house fire suspicious, say police

Fire crews attend the scene at Whau Valley in Kensington last night. PHOTO: LINDY LAIRD

A house fire in Whangarei was being treated as suspicious even before firefighters had doused the flames.

Neighbours heard yelling and saw a man and a woman running from the house carrying piles of clothes at about the time flames started leaping from the house in Weaver St, Whau Valley, at 7.50pm yesterday evening.

A police spokesman at the scene confirmed the fire was suspicious.

Firefighters had the blaze under control quickly, with crews donning safety gear and entering the badly damaged building by 8.30pm.

Neighbours said the two people who left the house were picked up by someone in a car at the end of the street, about 50 metres from the house, and the car left "quickly".

A neighbour said the woman lived at the property.

One man said he was outside his house when he smelled smoke and at first thought it was a rubbish fire. Almost immediately flames started shooting out of the windows and roof, he said.

He called 111 at 7.57pm, as smoke started billowing out of the building and explosions and other noises caused by the fire could be heard.

It appears there were no other people in the house when the fire started, the police said.