A police guard at the scene of the Bucklands Beach double homicide fire. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
A resident opposite the scene of a double homicide in East Auckland says what happened is unsettling.
Police launched a homicide investigation on Wednesday, after the deaths of a 36-year-old man and his 11-year-old son in a house fire on Murvale Drive in Bucklands Beach.
Emergency services were called to the scene at about 2.30am last Thursday, to find the house fully engulfed in flames.
A mother, another child and a boarder managed to escape.
Police believe the fire was deliberately lit.
Fire investigators confirmed accelerant was found at the property, they said.
A scene guard was still in place on Wednesday evening.
Resident Ting Huang told RNZ she was unsettled by what happened.
"It was a shock when I heard," she said.
She said the community has kept to themselves, and that they did not want to speculate about the homicide.
"We just feel really, really sorry for the family and their loss."
Huang had lived on the street for three decades, and said it had always been a very safe area.
"Ever since the fire ... I think there is a level of [trauma], and some of us even try and compress it," she said.
"There is no other way that we can actually speak about it, and we haven't been sleeping very well ever since."
Flowers left at the scene. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Up the road, resident Peter Lee said police have been going around asking locals for help.
"[Police] just ask to see if our camera can see anything or not," he said.
"But our camera is a small one, [and can only see] our driveway."
He said the only thing that could be seen from the time was a fire engine speeding past to the scene.
Lee said he was sorry to hear about the homicide, and worried it could happen again.
"This case [is] not good, man.
"We don't know what happened, you know."
Investigators work tirelessly to piece together what happened
On Wednesday, Police said post-mortems had been carried out on the two victims.
They confirmed one of the victims was the 36-year-old and, while they had not formally identified the second victim, were confident it was his 11-year-old son.
The two further victims who were taken to hospital after the fire had both been discharged, police said.
Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said someone was responsible for the death of this father and son and called on the public for CCTV footage.
"We want to hear from anyone who has any information at all that they think may help," he said.
"Nothing is too small or irrelevant."
Vaaelua said it was an extremely traumatic time for the family involved.
"We are determined to provide them with answers and bring this to a close so they can try and move forward with their lives.
"It is imperative we find who is responsible for this."
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