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Chris Skelton / Stuff
Emergency services were called to a small fire in a two-story apartment on Hampshire St in Aranui, Christchurch, on Thursday morning. (File photo)
Police are guarding a Christchurch apartment that is believed to have been set on fire following an argument between a couple who live there.
New Zealand Fire and Emergency spokeswoman Jill Higginson said two crews from Anzac and Christchurch Central Stations attended what was described as a small fire in a two-story apartment on Hampshire St in Aranui at 5.07 a.m. from Thursday.
Early reports suggested that no one was in the house at the time the fire broke out, but he was being treated as a suspect.
Higginson said a police guard was at the scene and a fire investigator was expected to be on the property Thursday morning to determine the cause.
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A window on the upper floor of the apartment was broken and appeared to have been charred by fire. Several spray paint labels on the outside of the floor and one on the inside of the floor were visible from the street.
A close neighbor told him Things heard the couple who live in the apartment fight in the early hours of Thursday.
He said the couple were known to have heated arguments and he believed one of them set the floor on fire after the dispute.
Another neighbor, who also asked not to be named, said a friend stood in his front yard and used his garden hose on the fire until firefighters arrived.
The fire is not believed to have caused any significant damage to the floor or threatened other property.
All fire crews had left the scene just before 6.30 a.m. M.
A police spokeswoman said police received reports of the fire at 5:05 a.m.
Police were still on the scene around 8:30 a.m. and the circumstances of the fire were still under investigation, he said.
