House destroyed by fire; cause under investigation

An investigation is under way to determine the cause of a large fire that destroyed a house north of Oamaru yesterday.

Two appliances from the Oamaru Volunteer Fire Brigade were called to the scene in Corbett Rd, between Pukeuri and Hilderthorpe, about 14km north of Oamaru, at 10.15am, after the fire was reported to Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

Brigade Senior Firefighter Kevin Murdoch said the house was "well-involved" by the time firefighters arrived.

The house was not occupied at the time.

A lack of a reliable water supply meant two tankers were called in from the Waitaki Rural Fire Force and Weston Volunteer Fire brigade to assist, he said.

No other buildings or vegetation were threatened by the blaze, which was brought under control about 11.30am and fully extinguished about an hour later.

Fire safety investigators from Central Otago were at the scene yesterday afternoon.

Mr Murdoch said it was a timely reminder for people to check smoke alarms and that if they did not have them installed, to do so as soon as possible.

"There was a smoke alarm actually still beeping while it [the house] was fully involved, so they do work."