KEY POINTS:
One person has been taken to hospital but four others escaped after a fire partially destroyed a New Plymouth home early this morning.
New Plymouth Fire Service senior station officer Steve Dombroski said the fire started in the bedroom of the Glenpark Rd home shortly before 2am.
"When we arrived there about half the house was fully involved ... the basement is all okay but the majority will have to be demolished."
Mr Dombroski said there were five people in the house and one occupant, who was in the bedroom where the fire started, was taken to hospital for a checkup after suffering from smoke inhalation.
"I think the unfortunate thing is the smoke alarms again - not having smoke alarms in bedrooms," Mr Dombroski said.
"If there had been one in the bedroom, a very small fire would have started before it would have gone off and they would have been able to deal with it."
Other alarms in the house didn't have batteries, he said.
- NZPA
