An observant neighbour prevented what could have been a major house fire on Saturday after spotting a small blaze in a carport.
Mount Maunganui Fire Brigade station officer Lindsay Nicol said the brigade attended a call out on Matapihi Rd about 9.15am on Saturday.
Although initial reports suggested there were people stillinside the house, everyone was quickly accounted for, Mr Nicol said.
A barbecue and a car parked under a carport had caught fire, and was spreading to stacked firewood.
"The fire was just starting to get into the roof area of the carport which was attached to the house," Mr Nicol said.
Another few minutes and it would have become quite serious, he said.
A neighbour saw the fire before the occupants of the house realised what was happening.
The fire was believed to have started by ashes from a log fire that had been emptied into a cardboard box.
"There were enough ashes in the box to set fire to the box, which spread to the barbecue, which spread to the house and car," Mr Nicol said.
The incident was a reminder about the safe disposal of ashes, as similar fires were common in winter, he said.
"Ashes will stay alive for four to five days.
"Put them into a metal container, and stack it away from anything that will burn.
"This is the time of year we start having this sort of calls, and it's totally preventable."
