Community 'devastated' by fatal fire

Residents of a small Waikato community are said to be devastated after a man died and his daughter was seriously injured in a house fire this morning.

The 38-year-old local man and his 12-year-old daughter were among four occupants inside the house in Meremere when the fire broke out about 3am.

Sergeant Juliet Burgess of Huntly Police said the man's name and the cause of the fire had not yet been released.

"Police and Fire investigators are still at the scene trying to establish the cause but there has been nothing to indicate it was a suspicious fire.

"Locals are devastated about what has happened but are starting to rally around now," she said.

Police earlier said firefighters had found the 12-year-old inside the house, overcome by smoke.

She was taken to Auckland's Middlemore Hosptial suffering from smoke inhalation.

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF