October 14, 2008

An old miner's cottage in Waihi, in the Coromandel, was gutted in a suspicious fire early today.
The house was unoccupied after a family, which had been living there moved out yesterday.
The Evans St fire was reported at 1.50am and when firefighters arrived the cottage was engulfed in flames.
Waihi Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Moe Stevens said 16 firefighters and two appliances took about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
When firefighters arrived they were not sure whether there was anyone inside.
'We got in there and had a look to make sure there wasn't anybody in there,' Mr Stevens said.
He said the house was one of the town's original miners' cottages and would have been 80 to 100 years old.
'It had been kept up pretty smart, it was in pretty good shape,' he said
It was thought the fire had started at the rear of the house, but Mr Stevens said firefighters were not sure whether it was an electrical fault or deliberate.
'We've got the Fire Service fire investigators in there plus the police with their investigators and photographers looking at the thing,' Mr Stevens said.
'It looks a little to me suspicious at this stage.'
He said the house was a write-off and what was left of it would have to be demolished.