Fatal fire at quake epicentre

Police load the body into a hearse at the Darfield property. Photo / Alan Gibson.

Darfield, epicentre of the 7.1 Canterbury earthquake nine days ago, has had to deal with another weekend shock - the death of a man in a house fire.

As a hearse (pictured) took the body away, police and fire investigators began trying to find the cause of the blaze in Bleak House Rd early on Saturday. Three people escaped from the flames.

Emergency services did not find the man's body until several hours after the 5am callout when the house was being inspected for hotspots.

Fire Service area commander Dan Coward said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.

The victim had not been publicly identified last night.