A Tauranga man suffered serious burns when his house caught fire after he tried to light a cigarette while refuelling his lawnmower.
The man was taken to Waikato Hospital with severe leg burns following the incident about 3.20pm on Thursday at his Parkvale home which has been left significantly damaged.
Neighbours ran to the man's aid when they saw him dashing from his burning home, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
Firefighters, who were at the scene within minutes, managed to put out the fire before it caused damage to nearby homes.
A spokesman for the New Zealand Fire Service said people should be careful when using flammable goods.
"It's commonsense really," Northern Communications shift manager Scott Osmond told NZ Newswire.
"Matches and cigarettes and petrol obviously don't go together."
NZN