Significant damage was caused to the roof of an Otumoetai house after a fire took hold in the ceiling.

Tauranga Fire Brigade was called to a property on Freyberg Street, Otumoetai, around 6.30pm.

Fire safety investigators are due at the house this morning to investigate the cause of the blaze.

'The fire tied about three trucks up for a couple of hours,” says Tauranga Fire senior station officer Len Sabin.

'When a fire gets into the roof space of a house, it can be a little bit difficult to access and deal with.”

Len says it took a couple of hours to extinguish the fire.

The cause is under investigation, but it's believed an electrical fault somewhere in the ceiling may be to blame.

Significant damage to one end of the house was caused, meaning no one is able to stay in the property until the damage is fixed.

'We had fire safety there last night and they are going to go back this morning to take a closing look,” explains Len.

'It appears to have started at ceiling level, so they're looking at a number of things like lights and electrical fittings. But the exact cause it yet to be determined.”