A toddler with a lighter started the early morning fire that destroyed a family home in Papamoa.

Fire broke out in the single storey house at the end of Papamoa Beach Road near the intersection with Majorie Lane around 7.45am on Saturday morning.

Firefighters at a blaze that destroyed a Papamoa home.

The blaze ripped through the renovated batch destroying most of the home except for a few water logged possessions.

Eastern Bay of Plenty fire safety officer John Rewi says the fire started in the middle bedroom belonging to the three-year-old boy, who is believed to have lit a piece of clothing or fabric.

'It is a result of fire play. It seems the three-year-old boy has got his hands on a lighter.

'The fire started in the children's bedroom and the mother has come down the hallway and discovered the room on fire.”

John says there were no electrical appliances on in the room at the time of the fire.

'The mother said they make sure that lighters and matches are kept up high.

'It appears the three-year-old has climbed onto a stool and taken a lighter from the top shelf.

'There was a very high stool in front of the pantry after the fire.”

John says the family did not have smoke alarms in the house and were extremely lucky to have got out alive.

'This family was exceedingly lucky to escape without injury.

'They unfortunately had no working smoke alarms in the house. If they had been it would have set off an alarm in the room alerting the parents.”

Firefighters from Papamoa were called to the fire early in the morning where they found the house 'well involved”.

'We've extinguished it, but the place it pretty much all gone. There is not really much in the way of salvage available,” said Papamoa Fire chief fire officer Alan Bicker.

The three bedroom home was completely destroyed by the blaze.

'It was completely written off – it wasn't burnt to the ground but whatever was left was damaged by the smoke.”

John wants to remind everyone to have working photoelectric smoke alarms in their homes to prevent situations like this.

'There should be working smoke alarms in every sleeping area and in the hallway leading to the area.”

Read more about the blaze here.