Police have confirmed they are treating a house fire in Maungatapu as arson.

Greerton and Tauranga Fire Brigades were called to the Te Wati address about 3pm after neighbours heard a window breaking and spotted smoke coming from the house.

Firefighters at the scene of the fire in Maungatapu. Photo: Andrew Campbell.

Tauranga Police duty Senior Sergeant Rich Martin says the fire, which started in a bedroom, is being treated as suspicious.

The fire was in a flat in the top storey of the house separated off the main residence by a fire wall. There is also a flat under the building. The top flat where the fire started is uninhabitable.

Scene commander Aaron Waterreus told SunLive yesterday that people would be allowed back into the rest of the property once the power was restored.

'I never heard a smoke alarm sounding inside,” says Aaron 'It's important that there are smoke alarms in the home in the event of a fire.

'Had the fire happened at night it might have been a quite different story.”

Police are asking for witnesses or who may have seen anything suspicious in the area at the time the fire to contact Tauranga Police Station on: 07 577 4300.

Alternatively, information can be left anonymously via Crimestoppers on: 0800 555 111.