Sunnybrook fire: Carport blaze in Rotorua under control

A neighbour has described big bangs and flames as high as trees after a carport blaze in Rotorua this morning.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said crews were called to a fire on Pandora Ave in Sunnybrook around 1.30am.

On arrival, crews found a carport “well involved in fire”, the spokesman said.

A vehicle was under the carport, which was attached to a house.

The 6m by 6m fire was extinguished and crews left around 3.45am.

The spokesman said one person was treated by ambulance services for smoke inhalation.

Natika Matthews lives on nearby Diana Pl and said she heard a “few big bangs and creaks”.

“It was loud enough to shake my house.

“I walked out of my driveway and saw the huge flames on the other side of the trees.

“Not just little flames, [but] like the height of some of the trees. By the time the neighbourhood was [outside], the fire and police [services] had arrived.”

Matthews said the whole neighbourhood came out.

“My heart goes out to those neighbours. They are very hard-working people and something like this is heartbreaking”.

The fire was not being treated as suspicious and a fire investigator would be back at the scene today, the Fire and Emergency spokesman said.