House damaged by fire after contractor cuts cable

EXTRA CHALLENGE: Firefighters remove roofing iron to ensure the fire at the Awatapu Drive house has been fully extinguished.

A Housing New Zealand home will remain empty for longer than expected after a contractor cut an electrical cable during renovations of the Awatapu Drive property.

Firefighters received multiple calls during last Friday's scorching afternoon.

Station Officer Darryl Howard said workers had been installing a range hood when the incident happened. It took firefighters 10 minutes to bring the fire under control but a lot longer to remove roofing iron to ensure it had been fully extinguished.

When they arrived the contractors, along with a number of Awatapu residents, had gathered on the footpath to watch the action.

One bystander, who did not wish to be named, was on her phone to her mother in Gisborne.

The woman's mother had been living in the house up until the end of October and shifted out to make the move to Gisborne.

"They've been doing it up since then so it's been empty for a while. I guess it'll be empty for longer now," she said.

Her mother was shocked to hear that the house had caught fire.