An Ohauiti resident was taken to Tauranga Hospital overnight after sustaining burns while trying to disconnect a car battery when his vehicle caught fire in the garage of his home.

The man, in his 30s, received burns from the melting plastic as he battled to disconnect the battery of the 2002 Honda Odyssey people-mover when it caught fire at about midnight.

A man was taken to Tauranga Hospital overnight after sustaining burns during a car fire in an Ohauiti home.

The residents of the property were altered to the fire when the car's horn began sounding.

Greerton station officer Nigel Liddicoat says the fire appears to have started in the wiring loom of the car.

'The horn started sounding, so the occupants in the house came out and he quickly pulled the battery terminal off.

'And he called us, but unfortunately in the mix of all that he got a few burns as well with the molten plastic.”

The man had burns on his hands and foot and there was a piece of plastic embedded into his skin, says Nigel.

'It would have been quite painful. We put his foot into a bucket of water and a damp towel over his hand, and called the ambulance.”

The fire in the 2002 Honda Odyssey caused no damage to the house and Nigel says the smoke was mostly bottled up in the vehicle, minimising smoke damage to the house.