Fire investigators scouring property after fatal Auckland fire

A person died after their home on the North Shore was destroyed by a fire on Friday night. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Neighbours are in shock after a well-liked resident of their street died in a house fire last night. Emergency services responded to the blaze in a house on Taumata Rd, in Castor Bay on Auckland's North Shore, 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.

A 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.

Barry Holden, a neighbour for 25 years, said he saw flames coming out of the house and firefighters responded quickly to the blaze.

The occupant of the house was well-known and well-liked.

"I used to go over there at least a couple times a week and see him."

Another neighbour told the Herald many of the neighbours had lived on the street for a long time and knew the occupant of the house very well.

Fire inspectors were back at the scene this morning searching for clues to what started the fatal blaze.

The scene of the fatal fire on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Police shift commander Grant Watson said the fire was not thought to be suspicious at this stage but the investigation was in its early stages.

Fire investigators and police have secured the scene as they conduct the investigation.

Police are yet to formally identify the body and contact the dead person's next-of-kin.

Watson said the house had been "gutted" by the fire, "although the roof is still standing, it's a shell".

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

A person died after the blaze in a Castor Bay home on Friday night. Photo supplied / Lindsay Mouat

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

"This house had just gone up in flames. It looks like it's completely destroyed," he said last night. "God, it's dramatic. The speed of it. You see it on the fire ads, but it just got bigger and bigger. Just the sheer intensity of it."

He had feared the fire might spread to a second property since he first spotted it, something which didn't eventuate.