Body found after major house fire in Castor Bay, Auckland

There is a major house fire in Castor Bay tonight. Photo / Lindsay Mouat via Twitter

Fire inspectors are back on the scene of a devastating house fire where one person died last night.

The house on Taumata Road in Castor Bay was destroyed in the fire which started just after 10pm.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Scott Osmond said five appliances with 20 firefighters were called to the fire. Crews worked at the scene until 3am he said.

The body was found just after firefighters entered the home. No one else was believed to be in the home at the time of the fire.

Auckland man Lindsay Mouat posted a photo on Twitter showing the flame-engulfed home.

When you arrive home to find a neighbours house in flames. Frightening. Hope they are safe pic.twitter.com/Ss3Tvh1ftD

— AdMan (@KiwiMoet) August 30, 2019

He spotted the fire while driving to his nearby Chevron Pl home about 10.30pm.

"This house had just gone up in flames. It's extraordinary. It looks like it's completely destroyed."

The fire is understood to be in a house on Taumata Rd in Castor Bay. Image / Google Earth

He couldn't get close but feared for anyone inside.

"We are all just hoping. God, it's dramatic. The speed of it. You see it on the fire ads, but it just got bigger and bigger."

He thought the fire may have also spread to a second property since he first spotted it, but fire officers said that had not occurred.