One person has died in a house fire this morning - the second fatal fire in South Auckland over the long weekend.
Three others were taken to hospital after escaping the Manurewa property, one of them in a serious condition.
Fire investigators are carefully examining the burnt-out bedroom of the three-storey home.
From the footpath, the family watched the aftermath of a fire that had claimed one of their loved one's lives.
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Assistant Area Commander for Counties Manukau, Craig Monrad, told Newshub the fire was predominately in a bedroom.
"That room was well involved, the fire had spread through the upper level of the house."
Four fire crews were called to the Dawood Place blaze just before 7am today.
Monrad said two people were still inside the building when they arrived.
"There were other family members there that had evacuated and raised the alarm or made aware to us that there was someone still inside. "
One person was found in a serious condition and taken to Middlemore Hospital - along with two others who had moderate and minor injuries.
The other person inside the building died.
Neighbours say the property was the family's dream home and they could have been burning candles overnight to celebrate Diwali.
It's the second fatal house fire in South Auckland this weekend. Emergency services were called to a property in Mangere early on Saturday morning, where one person died and three others were injured.
Monrad said it had been a tough weekend.
"It's devastating for those families and it sort of reiterates, I guess, the need for people to be safe and do some checks."
Police and fire investigators are still working to establish the cause of last night's tragedy.
Newshub.
