Motatau house fire: Two men in court

Volunteer firefighters from Kawakawa and Towai dampen down the remains of a home on Tipene Rd, Motatau, after a suspicious blaze on June 7. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Two Whangārei men have appeared in court charged with burning down a house believed to have been owned by members of their own family.

Graham Tautari, 35, of Raumanga, and Ngaronoa Tautari, 66, of Otangarei, appeared in the Whangārei District Court

today charged with arson of a dwelling at Motatau, south of Kawakawa, on June 7.

Graham Tautari was also charged with unlawful possession of a bolt-action rifle in a separate incident in Kerikeri on the same day as the fire.

Both men appeared by audiovisual link and are due back in court for a case review hearing on August 24.

Volunteer firefighters from Kawakawa and Towai were called to Tipene Rd, Motatau, about 1.15pm on June 7 after neighbours raised the alarm.

It is thought the house was almost complete but not yet occupied.

The house was half an hour's drive from Kawakawa fire station so the volunteers had little chance of saving it.

Firefighters on the second truck had to use chainsaws to cut up a tree that fell across Matawaia-Maromaku Rd in a storm, blocking the route to the blaze, after the first truck had passed.

The fire was soon deemed suspicious given the lack of a power supply or other ignition source, and threats that had allegedly been made to burn the house down.

The two accused are understood to be related to the homeowner.

In the Far North so far this year at least 10 dwellings, most of them in and around Ahipara, have been destroyed by arson.