By Jono Hutchison
Police are investigating after a person was found dead in a car inside a burning garage.
The death is being treated as suspicious and investigators have been at the house on Auckland’s North Shore since early this morning.
Neighbours called emergency services about the garage fire just before 1:30am. On the way there, firefighters heard there was someone inside.
“On arrival it was evident there was someone in the car, and despite the best efforts of the crews, we were unable to save the individual,” says Shaun Pilgrim, of the Takapuna Fire Service.
The fire service says it appears the fire started in the car and spread to the garage.
It's still unclear what happened. One neighbour says he was awoken by the sound of an engine, but he doesn't believe it was a car.
“The closest thing that I could think of the sound being is an engine revving, and then it started to sputter,” says neighbour Aaron Brown.
“It went on for quite a while, like five minutes or so - and then it died down.”
Mr Brown looked outside and saw two people near the property.
“I saw a white fella standing at the end of the driveway, he walked out and I heard a lady talking and he walked back down the driveway again.”
Investigators spent most of today at the scene, cutting their way into the car.
The owners of the house arrived this afternoon, and took exception to the presence of media.
A hearse collected the body just before 2pm this afternoon, and police removed their tarpaulin to reveal the burnt out car - a BMW.
Police have been working to identify the deceased. A job made more difficult because of the fire.
The cause of death will be officially decided by the results of a postmortem, but police say that won't be carried out until Monday.
3 News