Fire and Emergency New Zealand is reiterating warnings about discarding ashes properly following a fire that caused significant damage to an Alexandra house on Wednesday.
Hot ashes may have been the cause of the Jackson Pl house fire this week, Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade Station Officer John Mawhinney said.
It follows a similar incident in the town about three weeks ago.
Firefighters from Alexandra and Clyde were called to Jackson Pl about 7.50pm on Wednesday, and arrived to find a house well involved in fire.
Two fire appliances from Alexandra attended initially, but they called in an additional appliance from Clyde, together with a support vehicle, after arriving at the scene, a Fenz spokesman said.
Mr Mawhinney confirmed the home, which was unoccupied at time, suffered "extensive fire and smoke damage".
"We are investigating the cause of the fire at the moment but it appears it was hot ashes in a wheelie bin," he said.
The kitchen, bathroom, laundry and carport were extensively damaged.
"We were able to knock it off pretty quickly and stop it spreading right through the house."
A dog found in the backyard of the property was later collected by the home owners, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.
It is the second recent incident of discarded ashes left in a wheelie bin causing a fire.
An Alexandra property caught fire on July 12 after discarded ashes were left in a wheelie bin on Dawson Pl.
"It's just reiterating to people about the importance of not putting hot ashes, straight from fires, into wheelie bins," Mr Mawhinney said.
Ashes needed to cool down for at least five days before being disposed of, preferably into a metal container.
Soaking them in water to play it safe was another measure in safely disposing of ashes, he said.
