Suspicious house fire in Whakatane

File photo / NZ Herald

A house fire near Whakatane is being investigated by police after it burnt to the ground.

The Taneatua Fire Service were called to the fire on Nuku Rd about midnight yesterday, assisted by the Whakatane and Edgecumbe fire services.

Whakatane Fire Service fire risk management officer Jon Rewi said the house was well emblazed by the time firefighters arrived and no one was in the small house at the time of the fire.

Whakatane police are treating the fire as suspicious.