Neighbours have recalled the dramatic rescue of a woman with mobility problems who was forced to jump as her Whangamatā house went up in flames on Sunday evening.
David Anderson, who lives in the property beside the Hauturu Street house that was destroyed by the fire, told Newshub he and his wife were watching television when they heard "ding, ding, ding noises".
"Then we heard a bang and a smash of breaking glass, so I jumped up and went up the driveway and I could see across into the house next door, into the doorway and their stairs leading upstairs, and I could see flames at the top of the stairs," he told Newshub.
"I got my wife to ring 111 and I went to grab the fire hose and turned that on and started spraying water on the doorway."
Anderson spotted his neighbour - a woman with mobility issues - putting her head out of the window as the fire continued to engulf the house.
"Our neighbour put her head out the window and said, 'He set the house on fire, get me out of here! Get me out. I can't get out!'" Anderson recalled.
He told Newshub fellow neighbours rushed to the property, with one going up a ladder to try and help the woman.
"She came out the window face-first and they had to tell her to let go and just drop before she was killed in the fire. She did that and she got caught at the bottom by a couple of these men and they broke her fall. Nobody was hurt and she escaped," Anderson told Newshub.
Another neighbour also told Newshub about the woman's miraculous escape.
Andrew and Liz Robertson, who live on a nearby street, said the woman was having a shower when her property went up in flames.
They told Newshub a neighbour jumped over a fence, grabbed a ladder and helped her out of the window.
"It could've been [very different] and the poor woman was coming out of the shower, so just imagine," Liz said.
Andrew added: "Then she fell onto some bushes."
Once the woman was safe, Anderson said they asked her if anyone else was still inside the property.
The woman said her brother was inside, so the neighbours rushed into the house and found him in the downstairs bedroom, "pulling him out" to safety.
Anderson told Newshub the fire engulfed the house "very quickly".
"By the time we heard the glass break, the fire was already pretty hot," he said. "Then after that, it really just took off, it went up through the roof and away it went. It was really quick."
Andrew and Liz were watching the Australian Open men's singles final when their friend said there were fireworks.
Andrew looked over and noticed it wasn't fireworks, but a fire.
By the time volunteer firefighters arrived, they said the blaze was "huge" and they became concerned for the trees on their own property.
"At that point, we got the dog on the lead, moved the cars out onto the road, and we were ready to go," Liz told Newshub.
Andrew described the fire as a "garden bonfire multiplied any number of times" while Liz said it was "very intense" and "scary".
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) received multiple calls about a blaze on Hauturu St just after 9pm on Sunday evening.
A FENZ spokesperson said it took four crews about half an hour to extinguish the flames.
Four fire trucks were in attendance at the blaze, with the spokesperson confirming to Newshub the fire is being treated as suspicious.
Police confirmed to Newshub a 66-year-old man has been arrested and was due to appear in Hamilton District Court on Monday on an arson charge.
