Unattended cooking has been revealed as the cause of a fire that gutted a house in Glenholme, Rotorua last night.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the blaze started after meat was left under the grill.
"The person was cooking dinner, got distracted and went away from the kitchen," senior station officer Ben Alton said.
"They came back when the smoke alarms went off and the curtains, the stove and some of the walls were on fire."
He said the people in the house got out immediately and called 111.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Paul Radden said FENZ had multiple calls about the fire from about 5.30pm.
"The property was well involved when the crews arrived."
At least three fire trucks worked to put out the flames at the home in Rimu St and the street was cordoned off.
The blaze was extinguished by 7pm and crews began dampening down hotspots.
Alton said the blaze emphasised several safety messages.
"Keep looking while you're cooking, 25 per cent of all house fires are caused by unattended cooking."
He also said kitchen smoke alarm alerts were sometimes delayed.
"People often place them away from kitchen appliances that will set them off easily, so sometimes it takes longer for them to go off."
Alton said it was important to shut all doors around a fire if possible.
"If it is safe to shut it off, the fire will be compartmentalised and slowed down. In this case that would have helped contain the flames."
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