One dead and two injured in East Auckland house fire in Cockle Bay

One person died and two others were injured after a house was engulfed in flames in eastern Auckland tonight.

Emergency services were called to the fire in Minerva Terrace, Cockle Bay, shortly before 7 p.m.

One person died in the fire.

“Two other people were injured and taken to Middlemore Hospital,” a police spokeswoman said.

Police would work with Fire and Emergency NZ to determine the circumstances of the fire.

New Zealand Fire and Emergency spokesman Craig Dally said one person was seriously injured in the fire.

“Another person was missing but was found,” he said.

Six appliances are in the two-story building, which was well involved when firefighters arrived, Dally said.

The emergency services were called to the home at 6:49 p.m.

The two-story house was “well lit”.

Dally previously said that one person was being cared for by St John and teams were searching the property for someone else.

Neighbor Michael Rowse was in his living room watching the news when he heard noises outside.

“I address our neighbors screaming. One of them shouted: ‘The house is on fire’. We ran out and saw black smoke and flames. Everything was on.

“I heard ‘pop, pop, pop.’ It seemed like something was exploding in the house, but I’m just speculating.”

Rowse told the Herald he was on the phone with emergency services when he saw someone running shirtless trying to get into the burning house. “

“My wife called the man and said, ‘Get out of the house, get out of the house.’ There was another man running around the outside of the place. “

Rowse said that luckily her neighbors have a large property and the wind was blowing in a direction where the smoke and flames were heading toward the backyard rather than nearby properties.

Bypasses have been implemented around the burning house.

Police will work with Fenz to determine the circumstances of the fire, a spokeswoman said.

A police spokeswoman said officers were helping with cordons at the corner of Cook St and Rodney St.