Whanganui fire crews responded to a fully-involved house fire on Hinemoa St in Whanganui East, with firefighters working through the night to stop the blaze spreading to nearby properties.
A Whanganui East home was severely damaged after a large fire that had 12 firefighters working until 3am on Sunday to control it.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said fire services were called to a fully-involved house fire on Hinemoa St, Whanganui East at 10.26pm on Saturday.
The house was “severely damaged”, he said.
Whanganui Fire Brigade station officer Jason Rattray said the single-level dwelling was fully involved in fire when 12 firefighters and three fire engines arrived at the scene.
“It was a bit of a monumental effort,” Rattray said.
Due to the proximity of neighbouring properties, firefighters had to work extremely hard to stop the fire from spreading to other homes, he said.
“It was quite a difficult fire to put out, and because obviously the heat of the fire meant that everything surrounding it gained a lot more heat.
“The guys were heavily involved and it took lots of water.”
The three appliances stayed at the scene for the duration of the fire.
“There were multiple exposure fires within the property, and it was one of our priorities to just try to make sure those fires didn’t exit the property.
“A lot of work needs to be done in that space to be able to manage fire that is that well-involved.”
A specialist fire investigator is determining the cause of the blaze.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.