An elderly man with restricted mobility is dead after a fatal house fire in the eastern Bay of Plenty yesterday.
Fire broke out at the Whanarua Bay house, between Te Kaha and Waihau Bay, 107km northeast of Opotiki, about 3pm, Fire Service northern communications shift manager Jaron Phillips said.
Firefighters recovered the victim's body from inside the house, which was left completely gutted and close to collapse.
Waihau Bay fire chief Bill Green told the Gisborne Herald the man, estimated to be in his mid-80s, was alone in the house when it caught alight and by the time the fire brigade arrived the house was gutted.
"It was a hopeless case," Mr Green said.
A neighbour said she initially thought the smoke in the area was a haze coming in from the sea.
"Then there was a bang on the door, and the neighbour and I walked down there (to the house). It went up so fast we could not do anything."
The house occupants had lived on the coast all their lives and lost everything they owned except for a van which neighbours pushed away from the house. she said.
Police and fire safety remained at the scene today investigating the cause of the blaze.
