A burned house in Welcome Bay is being treated as a crime scene.
Police, fire investigators and a fire crew were at the secluded Waikite Rd property this morning.
The house is down a valley, surrounded by well-established trees and bushes at the end of a right-of-way and steep driveway about halfway up Waikite Rd.
A detective at the scene would not comment on the investigation.
The first of three fire crews arrived at the house, already well ablaze, about 10.30pm on Sunday.
No one was in the house, northern fire communications shift manager Scott Osmond said.
At that stage, the cause of the fire appeared to be suspicious, he said.