KEY POINTS:
Firefighters searched a blazing house in the Hawke's Bay today, concerned the property's elderly owners were inside.
The Fire Service was called to the house in semi-rural Gavin Black Street, Meeanee, 8km south of Napier, at 12.20pm, and found the fire well alight.
A car was parked outside the house and with no immediate neighbours to check the whereabouts of the elderly couple, firefighters had to assume there was someone inside, Napier station officer Jamie Nichol told NZPA.
However, a search of the two bedroom house found no lives at risk.
Later inquiries revealed the couple were away on holiday.
Mr Nichol said the house had been gutted by the fire, but no surrounding properties had been at risk, as it was at a distance from other buildings.
The fire was not being treated as suspicious.
- NZPA
