Fire investigators believe a house fire at a Western Southland property is "suspicious" in nature.
Emergency services were called at 1.45pm on Thursday to the address at Clifden Gorge Rd, Eastern Bush, where the house burned almost to the ground.
Invercargill Chief Fire Investigator Murray Milne-Maresca said Fire and Emergency New Zealand concluded its part of the investigation today.
He said he was not able to comment about the causes of the fire and the Police would release any further information.
"We had two specialist fire investigators working on this job so we were able to finish a little bit quicker than normal.
"It was a major fire with a lot of destruction and has taken us nearly three days to complete."
It was reported yesterday there was a link between the owner of the house and the Southland missing man Dale Tama Watene (40), who was allegedly the owner’s employee.
A Police spokeswoman told Otago Daily Times today the investigation was still in "early stages" and it was "unable to say whether the matter is linked to missing person Dale Watene."
