Man finds home ablaze, car missing

File photo / NZ Herald

Police are investigating after a New Plymouth man returned home last night to find his rented house ablaze and his car missing.

New Plymouth Fire Brigade senior station officer Steve Dombroski said five firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the Fulford Street house and extinguished the fire, after two engines responded to a call just after 9.30pm.

"The house was vacant at the time and we'll be getting a fire safety officer to investigate the cause," he said.

He estimated the house was 90 per cent damaged. "It's gutted right through the inside."

Police said they were treating the fire as the work of an arsonist

- NZPA