Flaxmere house fire: Smoke alarms and neighbours help save residents

The fire destroyed a home on Chatham Mews in Flaxmere. Photo / Paul Taylor

Residents of a Hastings home have escaped serious injury after their house caught fire on New Year’s Day.

A home in Chatham Mews in the suburb of Flaxmere was extensively damaged during a blaze about 6am on Sunday.

Fire and Emergency NZ Hawke’s Bay acting district manager Glen Varcoe said the occupants managed to escape safely, and firefighters were met by flames coming out of the roof when they arrived.

“The smoke alarms woke the occupants up and they managed to get out safely,” he said.

“The neighbours saw the smoke and flames coming through the roof and helped the occupants out of the house.”

Varcoe said it could have been much worse, and this was a good outcome in terms of having working smoke alarms to alert the residents.

Varcoe said firefighters did a great job stopping the fire from spreading to any nearby homes, and they also managed to “salvage the interior” and protect the residents’ belongings inside.

He said the fire caused “extensive damage” to the home, and it had started in the roof area. However, an exact cause is still being investigated.

He did not know exactly how many people were inside the home when the blaze started.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters were on the scene for much of the morning on Sunday.

People are being reminded to make sure they have working smoke alarms inside their homes - as they do save lives.