No one home as Te Reinga house destroyed by fire

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A house on marae land at Te Reinga, inland north of Wairoa, was destroyed in a fire yesterday afternoon.

There was nothing firefighters from Wairoa and Ruakituri could do to save it.

Fire and Emergency NZ was called out at about 1.45pm.

“The house was reported to be fully involved in fire when we got the call,” said Wairoa chief fire officer Grant Duley.

The Wairoa volunteer brigade sent an appliance and a water tanker, and the Ruakituri fire party was also mobilised.

“The house was pretty well down on the ground when the first fire crews arrived. They put out a fire in a car on the property but as far as the house was concerned, they could only dampen down the remains.”

CFO Duley said there was no one at the house when the fire started.

“We understand the owners were in Wairoa at the time.”

The cause of the fire has not yet been established.