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The condition of a woman badly burned in what is being treated as a suspicious house fire has improved from critical to serious, Waikato Hospital staff said today.
The 42-year-old woman remains in the hospital's intensive care unit.
The fire occurred at a house in Ngongotaha, near Rotorua, late on Thursday and the woman was taken to Rotorua Hospital before being flown by air ambulance to Hamilton.
A 44-year-old man who escaped the fire with minor injuries appeared in Rotorua District Court yesterday charged with assault.
The man, reported to be the woman's partner, was remanded until Tuesday.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said the woman suffered burns to 40 per cent of her body.
"She is incubated at the moment and she is likely to stay that way in the short term."
The cause of the fire in Taui St had not yet been established.
Firefighters were alerted about 11pm on Thursday when the woman's neighbour, Hope Scott, put a call through after being awoken by her dog's barking.
She said she could see the woman cowering in the corner of a building near the burning home, with skin peeling from her body.
- NZPA
