The torching of a Riwaka house where two young girls were killed during the weekend is "some sort of relief" for their mother, the woman's sister said yesterday.
A noise just before 2 am yesterday alerted neighbours to the blaze, which razed the three-bedroom house.
Police are treating the fire and a second fire that gutted a nearby shed as suspicious.
Five-year-old Nikkita Hingston and her 6-year-old sister, Dominique, were found dead in the house on Saturday morning. Their father's body was found in the shed.
Jennifer Govers, the sister of the dead girls' mother, Pauline Hingston, said the destruction was a mixed blessing.
Her sister had not wanted to go back to the house, as it held horrible memories for her, she said.
Police had recovered videos and undeveloped film from the house before the fire.
Mrs Govers said her first reaction to the fire was: "Thank God."
However, her sister had lost a lot of personal belongings in the fire, including clothing and video and computer equipment.
The family had no idea who might have started the fire, she said.
"It's obviously someone who is very, very angry."
Police yesterday secured the smoking wreckage of the house and shed.
- NZPA
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