A person's body was found after a fierce house fire in Taranaki last night.
Fire Service central communications centre shift manager David Barham said neighbours notified emergency services about the blaze on on East Beach in Waitara about 10pm.
The house was fully involved with fire when they arrived, he said.
It was initially not thought anyone was inside the single-storey property and only after the fire had been largely extinguished was the body found.
Police and specialist fire investigators were last night at the scene.
