A rural home north of Masterton has been left in ruins after a fire tore through it yesterday morning.
Fire trucks from across the region responded to the callout on Kiriwhakapapa Rd, but by the time they arrived, the cottage was “well alight”, resulting in what has been described as a “total loss”.
Emergency responders from Fire and Emergency [Fenz], police, and Wellington Free Ambulance [WFA] attended the house fire, which is believed to have started at about 11am.
A Fenz spokesperson confirmed they had been alerted to the single-storey structure fire shortly before 11.10am.
Deputy officer in charge [OIC] Doug Flowerday said seven vehicles attended the scene in total, with a mixture of tankers and appliances.
Trucks from Masterton, Carterton, Eketahuna, and a rural appliance from Mauriceville helped to battle the blaze, which took about 90 minutes to get under control.
As of 3pm yesterday, fire crews were still on the scene dampening down the area.
The fire was not at risk of spreading to other buildings as it was a standalone structure, Flowerday said.
He explained that with rural fires there can sometimes be delays or issues with getting water to the fire.
“We relied on our tankers until we could establish a water supply from a creek,” Flowerday said.
Although the cottage was an occupied dwelling, nobody was home at the time of the fire, and a farmer on the property first reported the fire to emergency services after seeing it from some distance away.
Flowerday said the fire was a “total loss” and that only one small corner of the structure remained intact.
A police spokesperson confirmed there were no occupants in the home, no injuries were reported, and “at this time, there is nothing to suggest that the fire was suspicious”.
A WFA spokesperson also confirmed they had attended the scene but were stood down as there were no injuries.
