Morning New Year’s fire extensively damages Aranui, Christchurch home

A morning New Years fire that tore through a two-story house in Christchurch was a “terrifying” call to wake up early in the morning.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) received multiple calls about a burning house on Portsmouth St in the Aranui suburb at around 4.40am

Initially there were reports that someone was inside the home, but a search by early fire crews at the scene found that to be incorrect, Fenz spokesman Brent Dunn said.

Four teams of firefighters attended to control the fire and some teams are still at the scene.

A fire investigator also arrived to determine how the fire started.

The police are also on the scene this morning.

The house has suffered extensive damage.

A neighbor woke up in the middle of the night to the terrible fire.

“It was very scary, especially when you are sound asleep,” he said.

There was a lot of screaming, he said, and he thought it was a noisy New Years Eve party before he realized it was people escaping the fire.