Man remains critical after Taupo fire

File photo / NZ Herald

A Taupo man remains critically injured two days after he was rescued from a burning house in Taupo.

The 41-year-old man underwent surgery at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on Friday after being airlifted there from the house in Tauhara, on the eastern side of Taupo, on Friday morning.

A Waikato Hospital spokeswoman said the man remained in a critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit today.

Firefighters were called to the Tauhara house about 8.30am on Friday to find it burning fiercely.

They donned breathing apparatus to recover the injured man from the house. He was taken to Taupo Hospital with severe burns and serious lacerations to his arms before being airlifted to Waikato Hospital.

About 80 per cent of the home's interior was destroyed, with only two rooms undamaged because the doors were closed. It sustained about 15 per cent structural damage.

Specialist fire investigator Stuart Bootten said there did not appear to have been any smoke alarms in the house.

- NZPA