A man is in a serious condition with burns after an explosion at a house on Saturday night.
Police are now investigating but have not said what may have caused the explosion.
A 30-year-old man was taken to Taupo Hospital in a serious condition before being flown to Waikato Hospital, according to
a police statement.
Police were not commenting further yesterday, but according to Fire Service communications shift manager Jaron Phillips, the Fire Service was alerted to a fire at a home in Paehoro Rd in Turangi at 7.20pm Saturday.
The injured man had suffered severe burns and was doused with water at a neighbour's house before emergency services arrived, Mr Phillips said.
The fire was contained to a bedroom and firefighters got it under control "pretty quickly".
Turangi chief fire officer Tong Kingi said the matter had been handed over to police.
Mr Kingi said no de-contamination unit was requested at the incident, but two or three nearby houses were evacuated.
One neighbour on Paehoro Rd heard the explosion on Saturday night. "We thought it was an earthquake," Mihi Whaanga said.
The incident comes nearly two weeks after a house explosion rocked Fordlands in Rotorua.
The explosion, on Wrigley Rd, had nearby residents rushing out of their homes to see what had happened and appeared to have blown out a door and windows on one house and some windows of the house next door.
Nearby residents, who all wished to remain anonymous, said the explosion was so loud they heard it all the way down the street.
One said he saw the back door of the house explode. "It was loud as," he said.
Police are still investigating.
- additional reporting, NZPA
