Occupants of flat destroyed by suspicious fire sought

Fire officers talk to eye witnesses after the blaze in Waikaukau Road. Photo / Janna Dixon

Police have been unable to track down the occupants of a west Auckland flat which went up in flames in the early hours of Saturday.

The fire is believed to have been deliberately lit.

It took more than 40 firefighters nearly two hours to control the blaze in the flat on Waikaukau Rd, Gleneden, situated on top of several industrial businesses.

Witnesses saw a woman exiting the flat and driving off shortly after the fire started. Police were trying to find her and at least one other person believed to have been living there, Detective Sergeant Peter Litherland said.

Police did not know who the people were, and the property's owner had been unable to identify them.

"Obviously our focus will be to try and locate and speak with the occupants. I'm sure they have information for us but obviously they're not making themselves known to us at this particular time," Mr Litherland said.

The exact cause of the fire had not been established but all possible accidental causes had been eliminated, he said.

Senior fire safety officer Roy Warren told NZPA firefighters had initially feared there were people trapped inside the building when they arrived about 1.20am.

Crews donned breathing apparatus and entered the fiercely burning building only to find it vacant.

This was increasingly becoming a problem for firefighters as more industrial buildings get converted into residential dwellings, he said.

"There's a high possibility now that when you get a fire at a commercial site that people are going to be inside. That just seems to be a way that Auckland is changing."

The flat was completely destroyed by the blaze but the lower industrial premises were undamaged, he said.

- NZPA