A scene guard remains at the site of a fire that engulfed and gutted a two-storey home in Flaxmere yesterday afternoon.
Hastings Fire Station Senior Watch Officer Colin Littlewood said the blaze at 23 Yarmouth Rd, which required three engines to contain and extinguish it, produced a plume of smoke that could be seen rising across much of Hastings.
"We saw the smoke in the sky from the station before we actually got the call and responded at 3.34pm," he said.
Luckily the home was empty when the fire started and resulted in no injuries or any further property damage.
"There were flames from three sides of the house coming through the windows, both up and downstairs," said Mr Littlewood.