Police are standing guard outside the remains of an abandoned Christchurch house which was destroyed in a suspicious fire early today.
Emergency services were called to the Patten Street property in Avonside about 1.15am, Southern fire communications shift manager Karl Patterson said.
The house was well alight by the time fire crews arrived and the house was "extensively damaged", he said.
It took just under an hour for two appliances to get the fire under control.
A police guard was at the scene and fire inspectors would arrive today to determine the cause of the blaze.
