Man died in house blaze looking for flatmate

A man who perished in a Palmerston North central city house fire at the weekend had gone back into the premises, apparently to rescue his flatmate.

However, the flatmate was already out of the Ada Street house.

Fire safety officer John Hotter said 21-year-old Starsky Tareha made it out of the house and was standing next to the brother of his flatmate, who was staying overnight.

The two men had been woken by the sound of breaking glass.

"He then raced back in. The guy doesn't know why. But we presume it was to find the flatmate."

Mr Hotter said there was no evidence of smoke alarms, and the tragedy illustrated "never, ever go back inside".

Palmerston North's Chief Fire Officer Rodger Calder said the fire, which the fire brigade was called to at 4.45am on Saturday, was a scene of intense emotions.

"As you can understand, both the flatmate, who turned up, and his brother were very upset.

"We had to wait until 9am to bring the body out. Family were there and it was a difficult thing, as you can imagine. The victim was Maori, so we followed the cultural aspects."

Mr Calder said he believed Mr Tareha was a student. His family is from the Palmerston North area.

Mr Calder said the fire started on the deck of the house where the two men were seen smoking earlier in the evening.

A student who lives opposite the burnt-out flat, Peter Fitzherbert, said he watched as the dead man's body was carried out on Saturday morning.

"You see it on TV, not across the road. "It's not a cool thing to happen."

Mr Tareha's death will be referred to the coroner.

- NZPA