House fire may have been deliberately lit

A house fire in Porirua overnight may have been intentionally lit.

Fire Service communications shift commander David Meikle said the fire was extinguished within half an hour of the fire trucks arriving at the two-storey Mungavin Ave property after 8.30pm yesterday.

Everyone inside was safely evacuated.

Sergeant Malcolm Lamont said the cause of the fire was being treated as possibly suspicious, as there was no logical way the fire could have started naturally.

The fire was largely confined to a basement, which police secured last night.

Fire communications shift manager Murray Dunbar said the fire caused ”severe damage”.

Fairfax NZ News