80-year-old dies in Northland house fire

An 80-year-old man has died in a house fire in Northland this morning, police have confirmed.

The man was found following the blaze, which engulfed a house in Ruakaka, near Whangarei.

Emergency services were called to the fire on Bream Bay Dr about 4.30am.

The body was found after the blaze had been put out police said. It was earlier reported that firefighters were searching for a person unaccounted for.

The search had been complicated by the amount of furniture in the house, Jaron Phillips of the Fire Service's northern fire communications centre said.

Six fire trucks from Portland, Ruakaka and Waipu were sent. 

Bream Bay motel owner Mike Sharrock said the house was engulfed in flames early this morning.

When he and his wife woke up, he initially thought fireworks were going off in the area.

"The noise was wood crackling and the flames lit the sky," he said.

Mr Sharrock said the house had been extensively damaged and the only person he saw living there was the elderly man.

"It's not very nice when there's a fatality involved. It makes it 100 times worse."

Fire Service investigators and police were at the scene.

The cause of the fire had yet to be determined.

The victim's name would not be released until next of kin had been told.

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