Horowhenua house destroyed in fire overnight

The fire is being treated as suspicious. Photo / Sally Osborn, Dragonfly Art and Photography

Police are investigating a blaze that destroyed a Horowhenua house.

The Fire Service was called to the single-storey structure on Hokio Beach Rd in the township near Levin, just before 8pm last night.

Senior Sergeant Steve Crawford confirmed police were looking into what happened, saying it was being treated as suspicious unless evidence came to light to suggest otherwise.

Fire Service spokesman David Meikle said fire safety officers were at the scene today for their investigation. It was, however, too early to say what the cause was.

Nobody was injured in the fire that "severely damaged" the house, but it's unclear if anyone was inside when flames took hold.

Two fire trucks from Levin and units from Horowhenua Rural Fire were on the scene for several hours.

Sally Osborn, of Ohau, was at Hokio Beach last night taking photos of the sunset when she saw black smoke rising and then the glow of flames.

Ms Osborn, of Dragonfly Art and Photography, had to travel down Hokio Beach Rd to get home and when she got to the now-engulfed house, she checked nobody was inside and then photographed the blaze.

She said she was told it was a vacant lot."I was absolutely gobsmacked at how quick that house went up," she said.