Cause of fatal house fire still unknown
Investigations are continuing into the cause of a fatal house fire in Nelson.
A police investigation team was at the Main Rd, Stoke, home yesterday working to determine the cause of the fire that engulfed the single-storey stucco home on Wednesday morning.
A body was found in the remains of the fire on Wednesday. Police have not released any further details about the victim.
A team of fire and police investigators worked through the day and a ‘‘scene guard’’ was in place overnight.
Senior Sergeant Blair Hall said police hoped to remove the body from the home yesterday.
He could not say for sure where in the house the victim was found. ‘‘It was an extensive fire.’’
A formal identification would be carried out once the victim was removed. Hall said that process was likely to take several days ‘‘due to the severity of injuries’’.
Stoke residents had been advised to stay indoors on Wednesday to avoid breathing the toxic smoke, but the smoke risk was no longer an issue yesterday.
There was ‘‘considerable fire loading’’ in the house though, which required fire crews to keep working at the home yesterday to dampen down hotspots.
They aimed to keep the building ‘‘as intact as possible’’ as the police investigation continued.
The investigation team was expected to return to the site today as they continued work to determine the cause of the blaze.
Pastor Richard Batchelar, of the neighbouring Elim Church, said it was a ‘‘very sad event for everyone involved’’.
‘‘Our hearts go out to the family,’’ he said.
Sergeant Gus Carlsson said two people, believed to be aged in their mid70s, were known to live in the house.
One of the pair, a man, was safe and well. He was not at the scene at the time of the fire.