Lower Hutt home 'severely damaged' in fire

A large house fire has destroyed a home in Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt.

A house in Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt, has been severely damaged in a fire.

A fire service spokesman said they were called to the Thomson Grove address at 4.38pm today, with seven fire engines in attendance.

Despite the extremity of the fire, the spokesman said it has now been extinguished and there were no injuries or fatalities.

A Thomson Grove resident, who lives on an adjoining property to the damaged house, said he could see fire coming out the windows and lots of smoke.

"It looks as if a room, possibly the kitchen, is burnt out and the ceiling has probably come down because I could see them hosing and the water was coming out of the tiles on the roof.

"I would say the rest of the house is badly smoked damaged. It was pretty bad."

He said two people live at the address, but he believed only one of them was home at the time.

He said he spoke with a fireman who informed him the cause of the fire was a gas cylinder.

"I believe someone was cooking inside with a gas cylinder," he said.

A fire service spokesman said they could not confirm what the cause of the fire is at this point.

The resident said this was not the first house fire on Thomson Grove.

"Across the road had a fire and it was demolished about two to three years ago," he said.