KEY POINTS:
The Fire Service is still investigating the cause of a blaze that destroyed the home of former race relations conciliator Gregory Fortuin at the weekend.
The house in the Porirua suburb of Whitby went up in flames early on Saturday morning while Mr Fortuin, who is South Africa's honorary consul to New Zealand, and his son Jonathan were out.
Eight fire crews were unable to prevent the blaze from totally taking hold.
"I'm devastated, but also extremely grateful that everybody in my family is safe," Mr Fortuin told the Dominion Post.
"It's just been a family home. There's so much irreplaceable stuff, but right now I'm just trying to process it."
The house was yesterday bulldozed for safety reasons.
Porirua fire service senior station officer Trevor Sheehan said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
- NZPA
