East Coast house saved from fire by quick actions of witnesses

A fire that started in a shed and spread to the house next door on a property at Whāngārā on Monday was put out by a couple of contractors and members of the public. Photo / NZ Herald

The quick and combined actions of contractors and other people saved a house on State Highway 35 near Whāngārā on Monday after a shed fire spread to the home.

ArborCare Tree Company contractors working nearby saw the fire about midday.

“A shed alongside the house was burning and the flames had started to catch hold on to the house alongside,” Fire and Emergency NZ group manager Margaret Middleton-Echave said.

Two male contractors, with assistance from others, jumped into action.

“They bravely tackled the fire with buckets of water, a garden hose – anything they could lay their hands on,” Middleton-Echave said.

“The fire was definitely going and without their actions that house would have been gone, too.”

It was out by the time fire appliances from Tolaga Bay and the Manutūkē fire brigade, which happened to be in the area, arrived.

Middleton-Echave said St John ambulance staff checked two people for smoke inhalation.

“They were okay. The cause of the shed fire remains undetermined.”

The occupiers of the house were away from the property at the time, she said.

“Without the actions of the people who dealt with the fire, that property could have been a total loss.”