Man suffers serious burns in sleepout fire

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

A man was taken to Gisborne Hospital yesterday morning with serious burns after the sleepout he was in, on a property at the Scott Street and Haldane Street corner in Elgin, caught fire.

Fire and Emergency NZ sent crews to the scene at around 9am yesterday.

“The sleepout was well involved in fire when the first crew arrived,” a senior firefighter said.

“The injured man had got out of the building at that stage.”

St John officers who attended said the man, aged in his 40s, had sustained serious burns to around 20-25 percent of his body.

He was transported by ambulance to hospital.

At the time the Herald went to print last night no update on his condition was available.

The house and garage on the property, about 10 metres away from the sleepout, were not affected, the senior firefighter said.

“The sleepout was substantially damaged. How the fire got started is under investigation.”