Siege house destroyed
A New Plymouth house that burned to the ground overnight yesterday was the scene of a stand-off involving armed police earlier this month.
The property at the intersection of Paritutu Rd and Marama Cr was the scene of an 11-hour siege on February 3 and the man arrested after the siege remains in custody.
Yesterday’s blaze, which broke out shortly after midnight, is being treated as suspicious.
Corrugated iron, twisted by the heat, had crashed down on to the remaining charred timber framing of the house, while nearby trees and the grass on the section had been scorched by the flames. Plastic guttering had melted on two neighbouring houses and a window had also shattered in one of the homes.
Police also arrested a man found with an air gun sleeping in a nearby car that wasn’t his.
Senior station officer Blake Marston said firefighters were alerted to the fire at 12.38am and arrived to find it well alight.
‘‘The house was fully engulfed in flames and it was threatening the two neighbouring houses,’’ Marston said.
‘‘The guys did a really good job and their quick actions prevented the fire from spreading to the other homes,’’ Marston said.
At the height of the blaze five fire trucks, from New Plymouth, Oakura and Inglewood, were at the scene along with 20 firefighters, operational support staff and vehicles.
Marston said a neighbour was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, but the house wasn’t believed to be occupied at the time of the fire.
‘‘It’s being treated as suspicious and fire investigators will be at the scene today to determine the cause.’’
A neighbour, who only wanted to be known as Stacey, described the fire as freaky.
‘‘We were just lying in bed watching movies and heard all of this popping and cracking, it sounded like fireworks to be honest,’’ she said. ‘‘It was quite scary to be honest.’’
When she heard glass shattering they went outside to see what was going on and discovered a wall of flames had engulfed the house.
Fearing their home might catch fire Stacey said they used a garden hose to stop the flames from setting it alight but despite their efforts the extreme heat melted plastic guttering and caused cracks to form in a large window.
‘‘The flames were already licking the side of the house and the roof.’’
Annalysse Carnachan said she was woken by the the sound of banging and breaking glass.
Carnachan said she went to see what was going on but couldn’t get any closer than 100m because of the heat.
Firefighters remained at the scene until 6.45am dampening down hot spots and making sure the blaze didn’t reignite.
Sergeant Phil Quinn confirmed the fire was being treated as suspicious.