Boy, 6, killed as 'inferno' guts house

Firefighters at the Wanganui house after last night's blaze. Photo / Alan Gibson

A 6-year-old boy was killed when fire ripped through a family home in Whanganui last night.

Five family members, including the boy, were in the Talbot St house when the blaze broke out about 7pm. The house was gutted.

Police said the four surviving family members realised only later that the boy was missing and had not made it outside.

At the property late last night, Fire Station Officer Bryan Coskerie described the scene that met firefighters.

"It was an inferno," he told the Herald.

"We had to get through the bedroom window, which is not normal for us, to carry out a search."

Police said the cause of the fire was not yet known.

Neighbours ran to the family's rescue, and at least two were cut by broken glass as they tried to reach those inside.

The family members who escaped the blaze were last night staying at a neighbour's house.

Friends and relatives, stony-faced and sombre, comforted one another outside the gutted home.

A scene examination will be carried out by police and fire officers this morning.

Police said they were speaking to the family to find out who was in the house and get any information about how the fire might have started.

Meanwhile, one person died in a house fire in a remote eastern Bay of Plenty settlement yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters were called to Waihau Bay, 107km northeast of Opotiki, about 3.10pm, said Fire Service northern communications shift manager Jaron Phillips.

The house was destroyed in the fire and was close to collapse, Mr Phillips said.