A woman killed in a fiery house blaze in Tirau used her stove as a form of heating, her best friend says.
The friend turned up to the cordon at Little St this afternoon, shocked after seeing a photo of the house on social media.
"I knew it was her as soon as I saw the photo [of scene] on Facebook," the woman said, choking back tears.
The dead woman, who was 58-years-old, was about to move towns as the house was on the market. The house itself was run down, her friend said.
"She used to use the stove [as a heater] ... there was a gas heater in there but it leaked, the owner never fixed it. She never turned it on because she could smell the gas.