One person has died in an Auckland house fire last night.
Emergency services were called to a home on Forest Hill Rd in Henderson at around 8.40pm.
A scene guard was placed on the property overnight, Acting Detective Senior Sergeant James Kim said in a statement.
"Police will be carrying out a scene examination at the house today, including working with fire investigators."
Ten crews from Henderson, Te Atatū, Glen Eden, Titrangi, Ōtara, and Mt Roskill responded to the blaze, according to a Fire and Emergency spokesperson.
"On arrival crews found the house well ablaze," they said.
The fire was contained just before 10pm.
"The cause of the fire remains unexplained at this early stage," Kim said.
Members of the community may see an increased police presence while an investigation is underway.
'Whole house gone in seconds' - witness
Neighbouring witness Manuel Fisiiahi told 1News the blaze ripped through the property within seconds.
"The house was gone in seconds. First, it was the roof, the chimney, and then within seconds, the whole house was just engulfed of flames."
He said seven others tried to help, including other neighbours and passing motorists.
"Quite a lot of us went in to see if we can open the front door, and we couldn't open it. Flames just came out.
"We had to come back out onto the footpath, otherwise we would have died too."
He said no one replied when they tried to call out.
"We were saying, is there anybody in the house? Is there anybody there? Nobody was saying anything. No one was reacting."
Fisiiahi said the neighbourhood "will have a lot of sadness" after hearing of their neighbour's death.
"We tried our hardest, though, but nothing else that we could do."
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