Man charged with arson
Police have made an arrest after a suspicious fire gutted a New Plymouth house on Sunday night.
At 7pm multiple calls were made to Fire and Emergency New Zealand about a house fire on Clawton St in Westown.
Senior station officer Jason Crowe said when firefighters arrived the house was well ablaze. ‘‘It was well involved when we arrived, that’s for sure.’’
A scene guard remained at the address, which was cordoned off by tape, overnight and yesterday morning specialist fire investigators and police detectives carried out an examination of the charred remains.
Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Matuku said a 42-year-old New Plymouth man had been arrested and charged with arson and was due to appear in the New Plymouth District Court.
‘‘Police aren’t seeking anyone else in connection with the fire.’’
He said the occupants, who rent the house, were not home when the blaze began.
Earlier in the day police had been called to the address after a rock was thrown through a window, Matuku said.
Melted plastic guttering hung down from the roof, the majority of the windows in the house had blown out while the frames and interior were a charred mess.
Christian Koch drove past and saw the house on fire before firefighters arrived.
‘‘The house was totally ablaze, windows had already blown out and the eaves were starting to fall off. I’ve never seen anything like it.’’
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, arrived home just before the fire engines reached the scene.
‘‘My brothers were home at the time and heard smashing glass and called the fire brigade and then moved their cars,’’ he said. ‘‘It was quite full on.’’
The heat from the flames began to melt plastic guttering at his house, but firefighters were able to get the blaze under control before it could cause further damage.
A Nissan Skyline car parked outside the address had the back windscreen smashed.
The house was right next door to the Clawton St Dairy and one entrance to Yarrow Stadium.
Crowe said three fire crews from the New Plymouth central station, the New Plymouth west volunteer brigade and an operational support unit attended the scene on Sunday night.
The fire was put out in about 30 minutes, Crowe said. ‘‘Then we spent about four hours damping down hotspots.’’
He said the house had been severely damaged.
The man charged with setting the house alight has been remanded in custody by consent until Thursday.