Jul 27th 2008 1:17pm

NZPA Wgtn

Father Dies in House Fire, Daughter in Serious Condition

Wellington, July 27 NZPA - Emergency services are today trying to find out the cause of a house fire in north Waikato which left a man dead and his 12-year-old daughter in a serious condition.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at Meremere, 65km southeast of Auckland, about 3am today.

Police said that at the time of the fire there were four people in the house.

Two managed to get out in the initial stages and when firefighters arrived they located a girl inside who was overcome by smoke.

The body of her 38-year-old father was also found though the cause of death was yet to be established.

The girl was taken to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.

'Police and Fire investigators are still at the scene trying to establish the cause but there has been nothing to indicate it was a suspicious fire,' Sergeant Juliet Burgess of Huntly Police said this afternoon.

'Locals are devastated about what has happened but are starting to rally around now.'

Two fire safety investigators and police were at the scene trying to establish what caused the fire.

Credit:NZPA