East Coast family’s safety warning after ‘worst nightmare’ homestead fire

Fire destroyed the Walker family's home in the Whakaangiangi Valley south of Te Araroa on Tuesday afternoon. Photo / Givealittle page

An East Coast whānau is urging others to check their lithium-ion battery-powered household appliances after a fire destroyed their Te Araroa homestead.

Ripeka Irwin and her father Len want to raise awareness after learning their rechargeable vacuum cleaner was the probable cause of the blaze that razed their home.

Firefighters from Te Araroa, Hicks Bay and Tikitiki responded to 111 calls about a house fire in Whakaangiangi Valley south of Te Araroa on Tuesday afternoon last week.

The home burned to the ground, and the family lost nearly everything inside.

No one was home at the time.

Irwin found out about the fire about 3.45pm while driving home after picking up kids from school.

“I didn’t know about the fire until I was driving up the driveway and the whole house was gone,” she said.

“By then, there were no flames or anything - it was fully burned out.”

Irwin, her dad Len and her two youngest kids (2 and 8) had been living at the homestead.

The family was told the cause was a lithium-ion battery-powered rechargeable vacuum cleaner.

“Something lithium-powered would be in most households today,” Irwin said.

“We all have them on charge, and sometimes we don’t necessarily flick the switch off, and it just carries on charging throughout the day.”

She encouraged people to do research into the electrical products they had in their house for their safety.

“Make sure you turn everything off when you leave the house, and just charge your things while you are at the house.

“I know that is not convenient at times, but it could save your house.”

“You just never think it would happen to you.”

Len said he “couldn’t believe it” when he was called while driving home and told his house had burned down.

He was equally stunned when told the probable cause.

“I couldn’t believe it was just from a cordless vacuum cleaner,” he said.

He believes there should be more prominent warning labels on products that contain lithium-ion batteries to make people aware of the potential risks.

Lithium-ion battery fires have doubled - there were 51 fires in 2020 compared to 104 in 2024, as of November 22.

The batteries are in many everyday products, including e-scooters, phones and vapes.

According to the Fire and Emergency NZ website, the batteries can be a fire hazard if they are damaged, mishandled (i.e. via overcharging), or improperly disposed of.

Advice includes:

• Only purchase devices and equipment from reputable manufacturers and suppliers.
• Only use chargers and batteries supplied with the device, or certified compatible third-party charging equipment.
• Never overcharge batteries.
• Never store or leave batteries/devices in areas exposed to heat or moisture.

A Givealittle page started by Irwin’s cousin and friend Joni Brooking to support the whānau had raised just over $19,000 in seven days.

“It’s anyone’s worst nightmare, but is now our Walker whanau’s true reality,” Brooking wrote on the Givealittle post.

“All koha and donations will go toward assisting the whanau with ongoing further living expenses and needs to live a normal life while they rebuild from the bottom.”

Ripeka Irwin said the community support and support from elsewhere had been “amazing” and “overwhelming”.

Her father said there had been a lot of offers of support.

“You don’t realise how much support is out there until something drastic happens to you.”

They are currently staying with Len’s sister and other family members in Te Araroa.