A person has died in a large house fire in the South Taranaki village of Normanby.
Dozens of firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze in the approximately 100sq m house on Fitzroy St, after receiving multiple calls just after 4am.
A neighbour woken by the blaze has called the death a tragedy, saying a man who lived at the property was a good guy.
Around 6.15am, it was confirmed that a person had been killed, Fire and Emergency central shift manager Chris Dalton said.
The fire has been extinguished but, at about 7am, crews were still in overhaul mode, dampening down the scene and working with police, with fire investigators on their way.
Stan Adamson lives just a couple of doors away from the home that was engulfed in flames.
He woke up at 5am and saw “all the lights” outside.
”I thought someone was getting busted. Then I saw the fire.”
It’s “a tragedy”, he said.
Adamson said a man living at the house “is a good guy, getting his life together” and he was sorry for all involved.
Earlier this morning, shift manager Shannon Lucas said on arrival crews found the house “well involved in fire”, and escalated the job to a second alarm.
“One of the calls we received advised there was potentially somebody inside but we’ve had no confirmation of that at this stage,” Lucas said around 5.30am.
At the time there were six fire crews, three support crews and two tankers in attendance.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.