A small community north of Napier has been left shocked following a fatal house fire.
Police are continuing to investigate the fire in Bay View, which happened at about 5am on Sunday.
Firefighters were called to a property down a shared driveway off State Highway 2 (Main North Rd).
One person, understood to be a woman, was found dead following the fire.
“Police are still working to establish the circumstances of the fire,” a police spokeswoman said on Monday.
A nearby resident, who did not want to be named, said she saw the flames out her window at about 5am.
She said it was tragic to learn someone had died.
“It is devastating. It has been quite a shock.”
She said she understood the fire happened in a sleep-out on the property.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said it received the call shortly after 5am and three fire trucks attended, including two from Napier Fire Station and one from Bay View volunteer fire brigade.
The fire was extinguished shortly after 6am.
The formal identification process was ongoing on Monday, police confirmed.
Damage from the fire was not visible from the road when Hawke’s Bay Today visited.