Fire at unkempt house suspicious

FIREFIGHTERS found it a bit difficult to get around inside the Wanganui East house that was damaged by fire yesterday.
The Tanguru St section was unmaintained and contained a collection of old machinery, and the roughcast house was full of papers, clothes, books and other objects.
The fire started in the back porch, senior station officer Ed Buchan said, and the crew was called just after 5pm. There was no obvious cause, so it was being treated as suspicious and was to be investigated. The fire was still in the early stages when firefighters arrived, Mr Buchan said. It was relatively easy to douse with water, but not before it had damaged the back porch, kitchen, bathroom and toilet areas.
Power and telephone were still connected to the house when it started, but were disconnected last night. By 6.30 there were only a few hot spots. Wanganui police were guarding the scene overnight.
Tanguru St neighbour Jason Carr said he rang the Fire Service when he saw a lot of smoke coming from the rear of the property. No one had been living in the house for years, he said.
Owner Michael K Johnston said the property had been used for storage and its insurance had run out. He had been trying to get enough money to do it up but would now have to repair it.
"I was just trying to get it sorted, and this had to come up."
He hoped police would catch the person who lit the fire, but didn't consider the chances were high. He said he had a lot of problems, including court orders to remove vehicles and machinery from two properties in Durievale Rd and one in Tanguru St.
"It's not resolved properly through the court yet. I'm in the process of getting it sorted out with my lawyer," he said.
Station officer Jes Sorenson said cluttered houses could make firefighting harder.
"The fire can actually travel down and you have to remove most of it (the clutter)."
But generally, he said, firecrews just ploughed through or walked over objects in their way. He experienced more difficult conditions at a house fire in Auckland in the 1970s, anyway.
"It was dark and I was wearing breathing apparatus. I found myself walking uphill, and it felt a bit spongy. We got the fire out, and got some light, and we found out the house belonged to a little old lady. The power and the water had been cut off and what I had walked up on was all her toilet remains."
"There were no smells, because I was wearing breathing apparatus."