Emergency services were called to a house fire in Nugget Point this evening where "fire was coming out of the windows."
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said the property, on The Nuggets Rd, was "well involved in fire when fire crews arrived."
"Fire was coming out of the windows," she said.
The homeowner at the scene said she initially smelled smoke about 4.45pm but did not immediately inspect where it was coming from as she had just extinguished a candle.
Later she checked the room the fire started in and saw it was full of smoke and left quickly, she said.
She then called Fire and Emergency New Zealand just before 5pm who attended with five appliances and three tankers.
By 5.30pm the fire had been brought under control by fire crews and was now out.
Fenz said there was no suggestion anyone was injured or that the fire was suspicious, although the fire investigator had been called to the scene to determine the cause.
The homeowner, an artist, said she was mostly sad at the possibility of losing hundreds of paintings.
