A house in New Brighton has been gutted by a fire early this morning.

Fire crews were called to the Rawson Street property at 1.45AM.

A Fire and Emergency spokeswoman says crews from Anzac Station and Christchurch Station attended.

She says when crews arrived the house was well ablaze.

There was some concern that people may have been inside the property, but all were accounted for.

A house next door also caught fire, but crews were able to save that property.

The Fire and Emergency spokeswoman says the first house that caught fire has been “substantially damaged.”

Fire crews have left the scene, but a police scene guard has stayed overnight.

A fire investigator will be attending this morning to try and determine the cause of the blaze.