The discovery of a body at the scene of a fire at Rock and Pillar, inland Otago, is not being treated as suspicious, police have confirmed. Emergency services initially responded to a report of a fire in trees at the property on State Highway 87, south of Hyde, just before 5pm on Thursday. Crews from Middlemarch and Ranfurly attended the blaze and left about 7pm. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman referred all other requests for comment to police. A police spokeswoman confirmed a body had been found, but police were not treating the death as suspicious.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 26, 2021 19:07 UTC