Two people escaped with their lives from a burning Te Puke house today, but two kittens from the property remain unaccounted for.

The fire broke out in a bedroom of the Housing New Zealand property on Dunlop Road in Te Puke at approximately midday.

Smoke from a fire in a Housing New Zealand property on Dunlop Road in Te Puke. Photo: Te Puke Fire Bridgade.

Te Puke volunteer fire brigade Chief Fire Officer Glenn Williams says the two elderly residents of the house were outside the home when they arrived, being treated for smoke inhalation by Te Puke St John Ambulance.

There were five kittens in the house and three were rescued. A dog that was also in the house when the fire started was later found to have escaped on his own.

'The only thing they were telling us was that there was a dog in there. They were a bit concerned about it still being in the house. It was found out later the dog was safe anyway.”

'We actually got three kittens out in the end. We were told there were five in there, so there's two unaccounted for.
'We don't know whether they managed to get out somewhere, but certainly in the room where we were told that they were, we made a good search there and couldn't find them.”

Fire safety is investigating the cause of the fire, which is believed to have started in the bedroom of the property which was completely guttered.
'It was a good save. There is only one bedroom that is gutted, but the rest of the house has been damaged by smoke and water. They definitely won't be occupying the house tonight.”

Fire fighters from Te Puke and Mount Maunganui attended and the fire is not being treated as suspicious.
Glenn says this is about the third or fourth house fire the brigade has attended in Dunlop Road in the last three or four years.
'I know it's the second one I've been to there that's a Housing New Zealand owned one.”

Flames coming from one of the bedrooms at the property. Photo: Te Puke Fire Bridgade.