Three people have been taken to Tauranga Hospital following smoke inhalation from a kitchen fire in Katikati in the early hours of Christmas Day.

'We were called to the fire at a Cannon Road property at 3.38am on December 25,” says Fire and Emergency NZ Northern Shift manager Colin Underdown.

'It was a single-storey home, with the kitchen on fire. We did an offensive interior cut-off, stopping the fire from getting in anywhere else in the house.”

'We had two pumps from Katikati and two from Mayor View. Plus an extra tanker from Waihi was requested, for water.”

Firefighters from the volunteer fire brigades were at the scene for about three hours and a Bay of Plenty fire investigator was also requested to look at the cause of the fire.

'It's important to tend to cooking fires - don't leave cooking unattended,' says Colin.

Bay of Plenty Fire Investigator Lynda McHugh says it's the old adage of ‘keep looking when you're cooking' and ‘make sure your stove is off before you go to bed'.

'The cause of the fire was due to unattended cooking,” says Lynda. 'The occupants had gone to bed with the stove turned on.”

She says that the rented accommodation had working smoke alarms in the house 'which was good'.

'It was a completely unattended fry pan on the stove from cooking, and everyone had gone to bed.

'Ensure you have working smoke alarms so your family is safe.”

Lynda says the entire house is severely smoke damaged as there was no door between the kitchen and lounge.

'But the water and fire damage was contained to the kitchen,' says Lynda.

'The occupants had put a hose through the kitchen window which helped contain it. But the fire got into the roof and the entire roof cavity is destroyed.”

She has a word of caution for those who want to attempt to rescue pets from a burning house.

'Three adults who lived at the house went to hospital with smoke inhalation through trying to go back inside to get the dog out,” says Lynda. 'It's smoke inhalation that can kill.

'As much as we urge people to please don't go back into a house to rescue their animals, they still try to do that.”

She says that there was some good news for the family.

'The fire service found the dog behind the couch and it survived.”

She says the dog hadn't suffered smoke inhalation.

'For a family to lose a lot of items over the Christmas period …. we urge the public to have working smoke alarms and turn off stoves once finishing cooking.”

She says alcohol was not a factor in the Katikati fire but also reminds the public 'don't cook and fry when you've been drinking' as an additional warning.