Neigbour smashed window to pull fire victim to safety

Three fire trucks were called to the blaze at about 8am this morning. Photo / File

A neighbour rushed to the aid of a New Plymouth woman whose home was engulfed in flames this morning, smashing a window and pulling her to safety.

Senior Station Sergeant Nick Burke said the man, believed to be the same neighbour that alerted emergency services to the blaze, carried the woman out the broken window of her burning Meade Place home.

Her two children had already escaped the blaze.

Three fire trucks were called to the blaze at about 8am. Burke said the blaze was "well involved" by the time the fire service reached the scene.

"It only took about twenty minutes to get it under control, but by then half the house was destroyed."

The other half of the house was smoke damaged, he said.

An ambulance also attended the scene, and a 47-year-old woman was taken to hospital with minor smoke inhalation.

The fire appeared to have started in the lounge, before spreading down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Burke said he was unable to determine if smoke alarms had been fitted in the home.

A investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blaze.