Yesterday neighbours lined the street as emergency services worked on the scene. Police tape cordoned the end of the cul de sac, and a property opposite the burnt home where it is understood a blood trail was found.
Holding his 1-year-old daughter outside their fire-ravaged house, owner Mauluulu Taulafo said he was glad his family had not been home.
Many of its windows had been blown out, with the interior, and exterior pale panelling turned black at the worst affected end of the house.
Speaking through a translator, his cousin, Tupu Sanele, Mr Taulafo said his family were shopping when the fire started: "Then we got called back, and it was already burned."
Ms Sanele said her cousin, and their extended family, were "just shocked about what's happened".
She said the main thing was that nobody had been hurt in the fire. Her family would take in Mr Taulafo, his wife, and their daughter.
A police guard remained until the evening to preserve the scene until fire investigators finished examining it.
Hawke's Bay Today understands there was a trail of blood found leading from the burned home, through two neighbouring properties. Police could not comment on whether they were seeking anyone in relation to the fire or if any arrests had been made.
Neither fire or police would comment on reports the property had been broken into before the fire started.
A nearby resident who had been one of the first on the scene when the fire started said Mr Taulafo's family had been "the best neighbours".
"I heard the sound of breaking glass. Then I saw a wall of smoke heading over the house," he said. "There was smoke all over the place."
The fire had been "pretty large", with flames roaring out the windows, and through the roof at one end of the house.
The neighbour - who did not want to be named - said he had tried to use his garden hose on the fire, "not that there was much the hose could do".