The Arrowtown crew was at the scene within 13 minutes.
Yesterday morning, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) Southern Communication Centre shift manager Andrew Norris said the fire started at a car and spread to the garage and part of the house.
Part of the roof of the property was pulled down to help extinguish it.
Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis, of Queenstown, said in a statement yesterday afternoon inquiries were continuing, but ''at this stage the fire is considered suspicious''.
''It's believed it was started some time between 2am and 3am.
''We're really interested in any sightings of any person or any vehicles seen in the Lake Hayes Estate area in the early hours of the morning, and urge anyone with information to contact police.''
Det Snr Sgt Inglis said four people were in the house at the time, but escaped uninjured.
The scene remained under police guard yesterday morning.
Fenz fire risk management officer Mark Bredenbeck, of Dunedin, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday afternoon the scene examination was almost finished, but there were further inquiries to be made.
The home was ''not habitable'', he said.
''It's going to require extensive renovation.
''It's got a lot of water and smoke damage to the residential part of the house, but the garage area is a total write-off.''
Mr Bredenbeck said smoke alarms were operational.
