Fire investigators and Christchurch police are treating an early morning house fire in Edgeware as suspicious.

A police spokeswoman told Chris Lynch Media, emergency services received the first call to the Allard Street address at 5.25AM.

It’s understood the house was abandoned.

Neighbour Jayadev James Negi witnessed the fire from his house and called emergency services.

“Well I guess just out of coincidence I woke up around the time the blaze started. I’ve been sleeping in the lounge because I had surgery on Tuesday, to have my appendix removed and it was a bit comfortable for me.”

“My curtains to the window where I shot the footage were already open and I noticed a shimmering light so I got up to take a look. I was in shock for a few seconds thinking – That’s not a fire pit or a brazier.”

He said “it took about 30 seconds for my brain to process the side of the house was on fire, so I rang 111 but fire services were already on their way. It didn’t take long before I heard the sirens and they arrived maybe a minute or two later. I watched them enter the house in a rush with their hoses.”

“The blaze started coming out the roof about five or ten minutes after they arrived”

It took about half an hour or so before the fire was under control.

The fire had caused extensive damage to the house.

The police spokesman said a scene guard is in place outside the residential property.

A scene investigation will be undertaken to determine the cause of the fire.