Asbestos has been discovered during an investigation into a suspicious fire in the Wellington suburb of Newtown.
Fire and Emergency was called out at 10.40pm on Sunday night to the blaze which engulfed four houses on Hanson Street.
The situation quickly escalated to a level 5 alarm, which meant crews were summoned from as far away as Upper Hutt. More than 20 fire engines attended the scene.
A spokesperson for Fire and Emergency confirmed to Newshub one person was admitted to hospital. The state of their injuries is not known.
The fire is being regarded as suspicious.
A witness, Rebekah Parsons-King, said residents on Hanson St and Hall St in Newtown started smelling smoke about 10.30pm, and as people came out of their houses, they noticed smoke was filling the air.
"Police and fire crew started arriving. As they did, massive flames started flashing in the air," Parsons-King said.
The first house was fully engulfed by the time the engines started to fight it, she said.
Dempsey said not only the residents of the four houses on fire, but also those of the surrounding area, had been evacuated.
Surrounding properties were threatened for a time, and the firefighters had focused on keeping those homes safe, he said.
The police and Wellington City Council staff had been coordinating a welfare response, getting residents into evacuation shelters for the night.
RNZ/Newshub
