Waihi house fire death ‘unexplained’
Everything that happened, it is a shock.
The death of a woman whose body was found outside her house, which was on fire, has been described as “unexplained”. Police are investigating the cause of the death of a 63-year-old woman at the residential address on Queen St, Waih¯ı on Monday at about 10.20am.
“It’s unexplained,” said Detective Glenn Ewing. “It appears there was just a single person on the site.”
The police were the first on the scene and found the woman deceased outside.
Detective Ewing said the was extensively damaged.
Waih¯ı Fire Brigade volunteers arrived immediately after the police and put out the fire.
A scene examination was done on Monday night and a post mortem examination. Police have also interviewed witnesses.
As detectives worked at the scene behind police tape, a woman who said she was a niece of the deceased said she was saddened by the situation.
The young woman was visiting her grandfather when she heard the sirens going off.
“The fire was only just out when I got here. I could see the smoke.”
She had seen her aunt only the day before.
She said her aunt lived alone in the
Neighbour Mike Peck
house home and wanted to be independent.
“Everyone knows her, she’s really talkative and always said hi.”
Neighbour Mike Peck said he felt deeply for relatives of the deceased.
“To have your loved one or your neighbour perfectly fine one day and dead the next, just everything that happened, it is a shock.”
Two fire crews from Waih¯ı attended the fire, which was “wellinvolved” when they arrived and extinguished it. Just after midday, two fire safety investigators arrived to determine the cause of the fire.
A St John spokeswoman said one ambulance and one rapid response unit attended a “fire incident” but did not treat anyone. A large cordon was in place on Queen St between Albert St and just after Kimberley Rd.
It was the second fire-related death on Monday.
In the early hours of the morning a person died in a house fire in Hunterville in Rangitikei District, north of Feilding. Fire and Emergency was alerted to the blaze around 5.45am and four fire trucks attended.
— Additional reporting Bay of Plenty Times