Queenstown house 'completely smoke-logged'

Firefighters appear to have found the source of a fire which filled a Queenstown housing unit with smoke this morning.

An Otago Daily Times staff member at the scene said smoke was billowing from a housing unit as firefighters arrived shortly after 9am.

When crews opened the door smoke billowed out and they made their way inside, he said.

They appeared to have found the source of the thick, acrid smoke and were getting to work tackling the fire, though no flames were visible from the road.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said they received a call reporting smoke and flames coming from a home in Lancewood Lane, near Highview Terrace just east of the centre of the resort town.

Thick black smoke was coming from the unit when firefighters from the Queenstown Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived.

They found the building's interior "completely smoke-logged", but were able to find and extinguish the source of the fire.

It caused extensive smoke damage, he said.

The first unit on the scene called for more assistance, prompting the callout of a unit from the Frankton Volunteer Fire Brigade and a command unit from Alexandra. The latter was turned around after it was found to be unneeded.

The fire comes as firefighters in the South have been kept busy by a spate of fires across the region, including a house fire in Invercargill yesterday and another one at a rural property in Invercargill on Tuesday.

On Tuesday last week a man was found dead at an Invercargill home after a house fire and there was a similar incident in Dunedin earlier this month where a man was found dead in Mosgiel.