Woman arrested after homes 'buggered' in suspicious Tokoroa blaze

A woman has been arrested after a suspicious fire damaged two houses in Tokoroa overnight.

Tokoroa fire chief Dave Morris said the brigade was called at 4.20am to the intense blaze, which spread to the neighbouring house in blustery winds, charring one side and seriously burning some of the interior.

"When we got there the house was absolutely well ablaze, end to end. It actually caught fire to the neighbour's house and that's buggered too."

The house crumbles under the intensity. Photo/Supplied

The occupants of the Dalmeny St house were home at the time but escaped injury.

The Herald understands the fire was a result of an alleged domestic incident.

Police this afternoon confirmed they were called to the scene just after 4am.

A 39-year-old woman has since been arrested and will appear in the Rotorua District Court tomorrow.

No one was else was being sought in relation to the fire.

Morris earlier told the Herald a dog that lived in the gutted house fled but came back a short time later. Firefighters looked after it briefly until its owners returned.

The remains of the Delmaney St home. Photo/Supplied

Twenty firefighters, including 10 from Putaruru, spent 45 minutes bringing the fire under control.

Earlier, fire tore through a pallet manufacturing factory in South Auckland.

Ruru said firefighters were called to Big Tuff Pallets in Wiri just after 1am.

The neighbour's house was also quite badly damaged. Photo/Supplied

At the height of the blaze five fire crews battled the flames.

One fire crew remained on site this morning dampening down hotspots.

Firefighters battle a suspicious blaze in Tokoroa early this morning. Photo/John Van De Ven

they were called to the