Waiohiki home destroyed while family on holiday

28th December 2009

A fire raced through a Waiohiki house this morning leaving it "gutted".

Flames had engulfed the unoccupied Korokipo Rd home by the time the Napier Fire Service arrived at 4.09am.

Senior Firefighter John Wakefield said the blaze was just "coming out" of the front of the dwelling.

 "It was a normal house fire but a big one," he said.

The homeowners were on holiday.

"It took a while for the call to come in because of the time in the morning," Mr Wakefield said. The nearest neighbours were about 100m away.

The cause of the fire was not yet known.

On Saturday afternoon a woman suffered minor burns as a result of heat generated when a kitchen fire spread at the Singapore Restaurant in Napier.

The fire spread to the flue above the gas woks and into a wall cavity, sending smoke into rooms of the neighbouring Criterion Art Deco Backpackers.

 Napier firefighters were at the scene for two hours.

Senior Station Officer Mike Peachey said the fire began when the woman was on the phone.

There was no structural damage of significance, he said.

When Hawke's Bay Today visited yesterday the sign on the door said "closed until further notice due to fire".

Owner Shirley U (Zhang Xue Ling) declined to comment.