Whangārei home badly damaged in fire

An old house was badly damaged in a fire in Hikurangi, Whangārei, on Saturday night with a fire safety investigator looking into the cause of the blaze.

Fire crews from Hikurangi Volunteer Fire Brigade were called out to the fire , in Buchanan St, about 11pm on Saturday with the property well blaze.

Roy Smith from the Hikurangi Volunteer Fire Brigade, said the home was unoccupied at the time, but it appeared that people may have been in the process of moving into the house.

The front of the home was very badly damaged with smoke damage to the rest of the property. At this stage it’s unclear what caused the fire and on Sunday a fire safety investigator and police were at the scene looking into it.

Smith said fire crews from Whangārei and Kamo joined the firefighting effort, with about 20 people fighting the blaze at one point and it was difficult to get to the seat of the blaze.

The brigade finally got back to the station about 3pm.

Fire crews were also called out to minor fires in Ruawai on Friday night and Kaikohe on Sunday morning, with both quickly put out.