Emergency services were called to the boat blaze at about 1.10am on Tuesday, finding it fully involved.
Police said the sole occupant of the vessel was able to escape uninjured on a small dinghy.
They were investigating what caused the fire.
Beach Haven local Kerri Walker told RNZ she was woken at about 1am in to the sound of explosions.
“I thought it was just a guy who lives over the water letting fireworks off,” she said.
She also wondered if it was someone shooting rabbits in Hobsonville or someone with a gun.
It was only after the helicopter arrived that she went to investigate.
“I thought ‘if that stops over me, I’m getting up’, and then I noticed all my curtains were all lit up with flickering orange…”
Walker looked out to see the boat fully engulfed in flames.
“It even shook the house,” she said.
“We couldn’t go back to bed, we were just so worried, because the helicopter was still flying around, I thought they’re looking for someone.
“We’ve had some rescues before like that, looking for people in the water, I was just so worried about that really, more than anything, I knew the boat couldn’t be saved,” Walker said.
It was a relief to hear the sole occupant had escaped the inferno, she said.
“It’s so sad, but so relieved that there’s no deaths.”
Walker said the whole ordeal felt like it was happening in slow motion.
By the second time she woke up, Walker said the boat was gone.
Originally published on rnz.co.nz. Written by ,
