KEY POINTS:
An elderly woman is dead after a house fire in Northland overnight.
Fire services were called out to the blaze on Tetio Road in Umawera, 45km south-east from Kaitaia, at 2.11am.
Fire Service northern communications spokeswoman Megan Ruru said the victim was believed to be the 92-year-old woman occupant.
"By the time the Fire Service got there the house was well ablaze so it was pretty much a matter of protecting any other areas - there was nothing else the Fire Service could do," Ms Ruru said.
Fire safety investigators were still investigating the cause of the blaze.
- NZPA