A woman living next to the scene of a fatal house fire in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson says a “lovely” old man lived at the back of the property in a sleepout.
Police were called to assist Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) at the Rathgar Rd property at 12.39am, where they found one person deceased.
“The death is being treated as unexplained,” police said.
This morning, the blackened shell of a structure and charred grass could be seen at the rear of the property.
One homeowner told the Herald they heard someone screaming for help as the fire raged.
“We live on the other side of the house and got woken when we heard them screaming for help.
“The poor old man didn’t get out in time.”
The fire was started on purpose, the neighbour said, several hours before emergency services attended the incident.
“They had lit a rubbish fire about 5.30 that [afternoon] like they always do and we think that is what caused the fire in the back sleepout.
“They are very lucky the main house didn’t catch fire.”
A neighbour told the Herald she began to smell smoke before midnight, but didn’t realise there was a fire raging beside her home until Fenz knocked on her door.
“At about 11 o’clock, I closed all windows.
“He [the neighbour] would usually burn things. So I just thought it was something normal.”
The woman said she went back to bed but did start to wonder why it was sounding so busy outside.
“Then an hour later, I heard someone come up and this lady banged on the door, she said ‘your house is on fire’.
“We were very lucky.”
She said an older man lived at the back of the property in a sleepout and she would often see him walk his dog.
“He was quite lovely. He’s so old, I couldn’t imagine him getting out of there in time.
“He was always gardening... and always burning things every day.”
She felt lucky to be alive because she had just had her grass cut and had a “big lump of dry grass” near where the fire was spreading.
The woman said the fire from the neighbouring property came all the way up to the window.
“My windows shattered. The fire brigade really came in the nick of time or it would have come into my house.”
A scene guard is in place at the address and both police and Fenz staff will stay at the scene today to complete a scene examination.
This morning, firefighters and police had blocked a small section of the road.
Schoolchildren were being detoured around the cordon as they walked to school.
Police last night were seen evacuating several neighbouring houses, banging on doors and waking residents of homes on Larissa Ave and Rathgar Rd, with a Herald photographer saying people were kept on the street for hours.
St John ambulance officers also attended the incident.
Emergency services personnel at the scene declined to comment.
Firefighters remain at the scene two days later dealing with flare-ups.