Two neighbours tried to rescue an elderly woman killed in a house fire in Hawke's Bay early this morning, but were beaten back by the flames, police said.
Police believe 87-year-old Gwendoline Rona Kupa may have died from smoke inhalation after the fire started in the house in the tiny seaside settlement of Haumoana around 3.15am.
Her son-in-law was flown to Wellington Hospital with serious injuries, and her daughter was taken to Hastings Hospital, said Detective Constable Martin James.
The woman's granddaughter, who was in a caravan near the house with her young children, was awoken by her dog barking and heard the sound of the fire.
She was unable to use her portable phone because the fire destroyed the landline.
The Fire Service had installed smoke alarms in the house in 2005, and they were working.
Neighbours, aged 53 and 54, heard the alarms and tried to rescue Mrs Kupa.
"They (the men) both tried to enter the house but were just pushed back by the intense heat and smoke, and then tried to pull the lady out through an open window but the smoke and the heat were too much for them and they had to back off," Mr James said.
"They didn't do it without a solid effort."
One of the neighbours suffered minor burns.
The fire in the older villa-style house appeared to be accidental, and the damage was extensive.
Fire safety officers spent the day investigating, and had sent equipment from the house away for testing.
The fire was well alight by the time the Fire Service arrived, area commander Paul Baxter said.
"The thing that we're trying to impress on people today is that the speed of fire in houses is much faster than it ever used to be, due to the contents that people have in their homes these days," he said.
"The likes of couches and things like that, that are all full of foam, you're sitting on drums of fuel."
