Ashburton house fire believed to be suspicious

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A house fire on Hugh St in Ashburton last Thursday is believed to be suspicious.

The cause of the fire that broke out  about 3pm was not known.

The house fire on Hugh St. Photo: Ashburton Courier
The house fire on Hugh St. Photo: Ashburton Courier

But Ashburton chief fire officer Alan Burgess told the Ashburton Courier an investigation led them to believe the fire was suspicious, and further investigations are now being conducted by police.

The brick flat, located at the Wellington St end of Hugh St, was engulfed in flames, with its front windows having exploded and flames bursting through the roof.

Photo: Ashburton Courier
Photo: Ashburton Courier
Ashburton deputy chief fire officer Jeff Marshall said at the scene they believed no people or animals were inside the flat at the time.

‘‘It appears to be the front living room/kitchen area as the origin,’’ Mr Marshall said.

Residents from both Hugh and Wellington Sts spotted the flames and called 111.

With the help of a few passing people, they were able to alert and evacuate the neighbouring houses.

Photo: Ashburton Courier
Photo: Ashburton Courier
Marshall said other than the connecting flat, it appeared no other houses had been damaged.

‘"The adjoining house will be very smoke damaged. It doesn’t appear to have any fire damage, there’s a fire wall between the two flats.

‘"It will have to be looked at, too, whether it can be liveable or whether it’s history or not."

Photo: Ashburton Courier
Photo: Ashburton Courier
Three crews responded to the fire.

"They’ve done a very good job, the first crew that arrived in their first attack," Marshall said.

"That initial attack is really, really important, and they’ve done a good job of that to stop the fire from going too much further and then to stop it from getting further into the roof space."

Photo: Ashburton Courier
Photo: Ashburton Courier

-By Indi Roberts