Home ‘total loss’ after fire

An Otago Peninsula home has been deemed a "total loss" after an early morning fire ripped through the property.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said multiple calls were made to emergency services about 7.15am yesterday.

When fire crews arrived at the Michael St property in Harwood, the fire was well involved.

Portobello Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Jamie Ramsay said the home was a "total loss".

On arrival, the crews found both occupants were out of the house. The blaze took about half an hour to get under control.

"The fire’s out, but the house is basically a total loss — the main thing is you can’t replace people, but unfortunately you lose a lot of possessions.

"It’s always a really heartbreaking time and quite sad."

Crews stayed at the scene for about two and a-half hours after extinguishing the fire to secure the scene and check for hotspots.

The Portobello brigade requested back-up from the St Kilda, Dunedin and Lookout Point stations.

"It makes life a lot easier. It was just the four of us who got to the scene initially — they’re really good people to work with," CFO Ramsay said of the back-up crews.

Fire investigators were at the scene yesterday working to determine the cause of the blaze.