Ohakune house gutted

Firefighters arriving at a fire in Ohakune in the early hours of yesterday morning found the unoccupied house so far gone they concentrated on damping down surrounding homes, chief fire officer Keith Watson says.

One of the surrounding houses was occupied.

When that was safe they turned their attention to the Miro St house that was on fire.

They got the call at 1.53am on Sunday morning. Mr Watson said two appliances each from Ohakune and Raetihi responded, and the part of the command unit from Whanganui. A total of about 20 people were there.

By the time they arrived the house in central Ohakune it was "pretty much destroyed".
It had been moved onto the property several years ago, and did not have electricity connected. It had been sitting unoccupied since, Mr Watson said.

One of the firefighters had to be treated for smoke inhalation, but it was minor. The Ohakune volunteer crew stayed to damp down hotspots, and didn't return to the station until 5.30am.

The blaze may be suspicious. Police and a fire safety officer were investigating yesterday morning.