Taylor-Jade Hira was allegedly assaulted in this house. Now a fire has ripped through it. Photo / Warren Buckland
Taylor-Jade Hira was allegedly assaulted in this house. Now a fire has ripped through it. Photo / Warren Buckland
On Huia St in Hastings, it's been an awful two weeks.
Alleged violence. Fires. Fear.
There were two house fires in the Camberley street in less than 24 hours, one on Tuesday night about 9pm, one on Wednesday afternoon, just after 3.20pm.
The first was in a house where 22-year-oldTaylor-Jade Hira was allegedly assaulted, ultimately leading to her death.
Police say they regard the fire as suspicious and together with Fire and Emergency NZ, they are "investigating the cause".
The house was not occupied at the time of the fire, and the spokesperson said they were unaware of any injuries.
"There has been a lot of tragedy recently," one resident said. "It's very sad."
The house was extensively damaged by fire overnight. Photo / Supplied
The house where Hira was allegedly assaulted is a shell of its former self - the rooms have been reduced to blackened rubble. One poster still remains on the wall, intact.
Outside, emergency tape loosely hangs off what's left of the fence.
People walked past it on Wednesday, muttering to each other as they did.
A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, told Hawke's Bay Today he was first alerted by the "slow hum" of a fire engine tending to the blaze. By that stage, the house was "fully engulfed" by flames.
Two days prior, he says the fence, on the left-hand side of the house, had been torn down. After that incident, he recalls asking his wife, "what's next?"
He says the family of the 26-year-old man charged over Hira's death lived at the address. Since Hira's death, the neighbour says people have "come and gone".
About five families have lived at the address in the 52 years the man has lived on the street, he said.
Taylor-Jade Hira was allegedly fatally assaulted at the Huia St house. Photo / File
Hira died in Wellington Hospital on August 18.
A 26-year-old Hawke's Bay man was arrested in relation to her death and appeared in Manukau District Court on Saturday on a charge of assault with intent to injure.
Police found the wanted man last Friday. He had a warrant out for his arrest since the assault on Hira, and he was located at a residential address in South Auckland.
The man received interim name suppression and is due to reappear on September 4 at the High Court in Napier.
- Additional reporting Sahiban Hyde and Laura Wiltshire
