Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

A Whangārei man has been arrested over a house fire that killed 61-year-old John Reuben.

Reuben, also known as Hoani Reupena-Tuoro, died after a fire, allegedly started in a car, spread to his home on Thomas Street, in the suburb of Tikipunga, shortly before 3am on 29 April.

Since then police have been trawling through evidence gathered from the scene and CCTV footage captured in surrounding streets around that time.

Court documents show a 48-year-old Ōtangārei man, August Lemon, was arrested this week and appeared in the Whangārei District Court on Tuesday morning charged with knowingly endangering life by setting fire to property.

The maximum penalty is 14 years’ imprisonment.

When firefighters arrived at Thomas Street, both the car and Kāinga Ora home were “well involved” in fire.

They found a critically injured man inside the house, who died at the scene despite the efforts of first responders.

About 20 police officers along with fire investigators and ESR scientists were involved in the initial investigation.

Lemon was remanded in custody and is next due in Whangārei District Court by audio-visual link on 16 September.