Man wakes for glass of water to find house on fire

A man's urge for a glass of water in the middle of the night may have saved five lives near Rotorua this morning.

Firefighters were called to a fire at a farmhand's house at Mamaku, 20km north-west of Rotorua about 2.30am, to find the house well alight and five people, in their early 20s, already outside.

A couple of people were treated for smoke inhalation but everyone was otherwise fine, said Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Neil Hamon.

"One got up to have a drink of water and realised the house was on fire. The fire didn't wake him up," Mr Hamon said.

He alerted the others and all were able to get out.

"When he saw the fire it was well ablaze. It could have been a different situation if he hadn't woken up."

Firefighters were able to get to the house within eight minutes of the alarm being raised but it was "95 per cent destroyed" by the time the fire was controlled.

One appliance from Mamaku, one from Rotorua and two from Ngongotaha attended.

Mr Hamon said the cause of the fire was not yet known and the house remains would be inspected today.

He could not say for sure whether the house had any smoke alarms but it did not appear so.

- NZPA