Police mounted a scene guard and carried out a forensic examination at the weekend as they investigated a suspicious fire which heavily damaged an East Otago house late last week.
The scene guard was in place at the State Highway 1 house at Goodwood, between Palmerston and Waikouaiti, on Friday night and it is understood CIB staff made forensic inquiries at the property on Saturday.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) fire investigator had earlier been sent out on Friday to try to determine the cause of the blaze.
Firefighters were alerted to the fire about 1am on Friday.
Fenz officials said at the weekend that the matter was viewed as suspicious and acknowledged it had been referred to police.
A police spokeswoman said police were notified about the fire at 1.20am on Friday and confirmed there was a scene guard on Friday night.
The police spokeswoman could not confirm all details of the police investigation on Saturday, but said police were working with Fenz to determine the cause of the fire.
Six fire crews attended the blaze early on Friday, and firefighters, some wearing breathing apparatus, extinguished the fire.
