Close call as Bay family flees fire

NEIGHBOURLY: Sue Burgess and Richard Zorichak helped a family that climbed over their fence on Thursday night as the house they were living in was destroyed by fire.PHOTOS/JOHN BORREN

A family of three scrambled barefoot over a neighbour's two-metre-high fence on Thursday night in Mount Maunganui as flames engulfed their home and windows blew out.

But less than 24 hours later, the Housing New Zealand tenants have been rehomed and the Grenada St property, which was gutted by the fire, will be demolished.

Sue Burgess and Richard Zorichak said they heard "popping and banging" at about 7.45pm and went to investigate.

"We went out when we heard the noise and these people were climbing over the fence," Ms Burgess said.

"They were in such a panic."

The wind, smoke and flames had cut off their exit via the front of the property.

They quickly called the fire brigade, she said.

"They didn't think they were hurt but they had minor little burns and cuts."

Mr Zorichak said he had a garden hose ready and shifted his car as a big tree near the fire was beginning to catch.

"You can see the roof is starting to collapse and, some time after, it was still absolutely red."

The family, including a child, stayed with the couple until about 10pm when they were assisted by their church group.

The neighbours did not know the family but said they just wanted to help out as much as they could.

Tauranga Fire Station Senior Station Officer Kevin Cowper said the outcome could have been tragic. The cause of fire was still being investigated, but a pot of oil on a stove was a possible cause.

"She tried to smother it with a pot lid, which is the right thing to do, if it's safe to do but it didn't work so they vacated the property."

Smoke alarms were fitted in the house but it was believed the batteries had been removed.

"In this case, it probably didn't make much of a difference to the outcome as the fire was discovered quite quickly. However, if the fire had started while the occupants were asleep, the outcome could have been tragic."

Three fire appliances and 12 firefighters responded to the callout, Mr Cowper said.

Housing New Zealand area manager Teresa Pou said the tenant had called the agency at about 9pm on the day to advise the two-bedroom property had been destroyed by a fire.

"We immediately arranged for temporary accommodation at a local motor lodge.

"However, the tenant chose to accept an alternative offer of accommodation arranged by their church. We are boarding up the property and fencing it off to keep the site safe until the property can be demolished."

Senior communications adviser Dan Jackson said a meeting was held yesterday with the tenant and the family had accepted a new house in Mount Maunganui.

It was also linking them with Work and Income to see what grants were available, he said.

Housing NZ regularly inspected its tenancies and checked all smoke alarms. Records showed the batteries in the smoke alarm at the Grenada St property had been replaced in June.

"We do find tenants often take the batteries out and if we find that an issue we will arrange for new batteries."