Firefighters frantically searched for a person thought to be trapped in burning house in the Far North early this morning, only to find them at a neighbour's house about four hours later.
Firefighters arrived at the property in Matauri Bay, east of Kaitaia, shortly after midnight to find the building engulfed in flames, Fire Service northern communications shift manager Paul Radden said.
Volunteers firefighters entered the building when the flames had died down, expecting to find the occupant dead inside, but the only thing they found was dead dog under a bed.
They conducted a grid search of the area and found the occupant at a neighbour's house at about 4am, safe and well.
"I'm not exactly sure how that worked _ whether they'd run from the fire, or they'd just been staying there - I have no idea what the story was,'' Mr Radden said.
