Suspicious fire contained with garden hoses

Neighbours managed to contain a suspicious house fire north of Wellington last night with garden hoses, preventing it from causing serious damage.

Fire services were called to the blaze on Airlie Rd in Plimmerton shortly before 7pm. The house was unoccupied at the time.

Constable Sarah Waugh from the Porirua police said the fire was being treated as suspicious and while a police cordon was removed this morning, fire officers were still investigating.

The fire started in a bedroom and was noticed by neighbours who used garden hoses to contain it, Ms Waugh said.

"They've done a pretty good job, it would have been a lot worse if they hadn't got involved," she told.

Porirua fire fighter Brett Pritchard said the blaze had damaged the room and burned through an external wall, but there was only smoke damage to the rest of the house.

It was fortunate the neighbours saw the flames and reacted quickly, he said.

Mr Pritchard said there was sign of forced entry at the back of the house, but it was not immediately clear how the fire started.

- NZPA