Arson inquiry after second fire at Gisborne house

An Abbott St house fire on Tuesday morning started in the area of the front porch. Firefighters got there in time to stop it spreading further after 111 calls from neighbours. It was the second fire at the house in three days. Photo / Murray Robertson

A second fire at an Abbott St house in the space of three days appears to have been deliberately lit.

Emergency services were called to the Kāinga Ora house in Te Hapara, Gisborne at around 11am on Saturday after a fire started in the lounge.

Firefighters put it out and damage was limited to that room and smoke damage to an adjoining kitchen. The cause was not suspicious.

The lounge in the home sustained serious fire damage in Saturday morning's fire. The cause in that case was not suspicious, firefighters said. Photo / Murray Robertson

At around 3.20am Tuesday, Fire and Emergency New Zealand received 111 calls from neighbours about another fire in the front of the same home.

“It was set from the outside near the front door,” a senior firefighter said. “There was not a lot of new damage caused but it has been treated as suspicious.”

The second fire was extinguished before it took hold, he said.

Police mounted a scene guard on the fire-damaged house, pending the arrival of detectives and specialist fire investigators for an arson inquiry. Photo / Murray Robertson

The family living in the home had been relocated after the Saturday fire.

Police were called in following the second fire and mounted a scene guard until fire investigators arrived later in the morning.

An arson inquiry is under way.

Firefighters attended a garden shed fire on a property in Edison St, Kaiti, on Monday night.

“The shed was pretty much destroyed,” the senior firefighter said. “The cause is under investigation.”