A person has been seriously injured in a house fire in South Auckland this morning.
Firefighters were called to a large house blaze on busy East Tāmaki Rd, in Ōtara, at 6.15am.
A Fire and Emergency spokesman said the house was well involved when they arrived.
The fire had been put out just before 7am and crews were now dampening the area. Three crews were at the scene.
Police said one person suffered burns in the blaze and had been taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Police said initial reports said flames could be seen coming out of windows.
A worker at the nearby Mobil petrol station said they called emergency services after spotting flames.
"It's pretty big. You can see the flames - it's too big.
"We don't know what's happened, but we can see smoke and everyone's here now.''
The woman said service station staff called fire crews quickly as the blaze was only a few houses down from the petrol station.
"It's too close to us.''
A fire investigator is also at the scene to determine the cause and circumstances of the blaze.
The 19-year-old was found in a remote area in the hills of Upper Hutt.