Four people suffered burns in a house fire in Woodend, in the Waimakariri District, last night. Image / Google
Five people are recovering in hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and burns-related injuries in two separate house fires last night.
Four people received burns in a blaze in Woodend, in the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury.
Emergency crews were called to a house on State Highway 1 - just north of the township - just after 10pm yesterday, a southern fire communications spokesman said.
Four people from the house were taken to hospital for treatment for what was said to be minor burns.
About half an hour earlier, in Dunedin, fire crews were responding to another house blaze on McMaster Rd in Saddle Hill.
Fire and Emergency NZ said five fire engines from around the city were needed at the scene. The roof of the large property - a two-storey building - had caught fire.
Crews on the ground faced a "complex job", a FENZ spokesman said, because of the size of the building and iron on the roof.
One person was taken to hospital for an "inhalation issue" as a result of the blaze.
Neither fire was being treated as suspicious, fire authorities said.
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'Thunderstorms and localised downpours are possible, especially from Monday evening.'