Photo: Ashleigh McCaull/RNZ
A person has died in a house fire in Whitby, Porirua, and a second person hospitalised in a stable condition.
A dog also died in the blaze, police said.
A neighbour told RNZ the people who lived in the home were from a tight-knit family who had lived in the area for years. They were lovely, private people, she said.
Another neighbour said an elderly couple lived in the house.
One dead after house fire in Porirua
They said one of the couple had just retired and the other had a recent cancer battle.
RNZ's reporter at the scene said the fire had been extinguished.
Emergency services were called to the Lanyon Place address about 2.20am on Thursday. Eight crews fought the blaze.
Just before 8am, Fire and Emergency were still at the scene dampening down hot spots and investigating the house which was unstable.
Photo: Ashleigh McCaull/RNZ
A neighbour who got teary while speaking to RNZ said he was not sure who died, but was saddened by their death.
"They were retired, I'd say around the 70ish mark, I guess. But they were nice and friendly, and we always had a chat and the little dog used to sniff through the gate at my little dog, you know ol' Billy the puppy," they said.
Despite living next door he did not hear anything happening, and was shocked to wake up to all the emergency crew on the ground.
Another neighbour also did not hear the fire, but woke up to smoke coming off the roof of the house around 5:30am.
"We were worried about people in the house."
He described the neighbourhood as a quiet and friendly street.
"People will be shocked about it with this sort of thing happening."
Police said they were providing support to the family of those involved.
Fire and Emergency investigators and police will carry out a scene examination to determine the cause of the fire.