Garden hoses used to fight Kaiti kitchen fire

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Overheated cooking oil on a stove caught alight in a house in Lawrence Street in Kaiti on Tuesday but quick work by people in the house limited the damage.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand sent crews to the home at around 4.45pm.

“The occupants of the home were distracted and the hot oil ignited, burning through the extraction unit above the stove,” a senior firefighter said. “Flames travelled from there up into the roof void.

“The residents grabbed a couple of garden hoses and were able to contain the fire to the kitchen area until we arrived,” he said.

“They did a great job.”

The fire crews finished off the fire and made sure it was out.

“Damage was contained to the kitchen area — the stove, the extraction system and in the roof void — and the majority of the rest of the house was unaffected,” the senior firefighter said.

“There was no other structural damage.

“Once again, though, it illustrates the care people have got to take while cooking.

“Our message has always been: ‘keep looking while you are cooking’.”