A Northland family who lost almost all of their possessions in a house fire were at a tangi for a man who died in a crash just two days earlier.
No one was home in the house in Turner St, Kaeo, when the fire started about 7am yesterday and destroyed the home.
Fire officials said thick morning fog may have meant the blaze went unnoticed which allowed it to take hold.
Kaeo chief fire officer Lindsay Murray said he lived 200 metres away from the house and had not noticed anything until the station alarm sounded.
"For a start all you could see was a bit of smoke," Mr Murray said.
However, when the Kaeo volunteers arrived flames were leaping out the windows of the lounge of the single storey Housing New Zealand home.
Mr Murray said, when they arrived, the priority was to check no one was in the building and a neighbour told them the family were at a local marae attending a tangi. A man died at the scene on Saturday when the vehicle he was driving crashed into a bank, about 11.30pm on SH10 near Kaeo.
Yesterday, Mr Murray said it was quickly evident more crews were needed with water tankers and teams from Kerikeri and Mangonui were called to help douse the house blaze.
The house, a garage and three cars parked outside were destroyed in the fire.
Neighbour Robert Winder said his house is about 50 metres from the blaze. He too said he did not know about the blaze until the station alarm went. He looked out his window to see the house completely engulfed.
"It was completely end-to-end blazing - the whole house was on fire.
"There were some mild explosions going off. It was mainly ash floating around, but I wasn't worried about it spreading."
Kaitaia chief fire officer Colin Kitchen said the brigades' coordinated approach saved another house that was only five metres away from igniting. The crews, made up of 20 firefighters, filled tankers from the neighbour's water tank and also used water supplied to the nearby Kaeo Hospital.
Mr Kitchen said initial investigations showed there were no working fire alarms installed in the house, which could have meant an earlier warning and quicker intervention. A fire investigator was at the house yesterday trying to determine what caused the fire.