Anna says she still has plenty to be grateful for, thanks to a successful mercy dash to save her beloved animals. Photo / Selina Nunn
Anna says she still has plenty to be grateful for, thanks to a successful mercy dash to save her beloved animals. Photo / Selina Nunn
An adrenaline-filled dash to get her furry friends to safety was the only thing on Anna’s mind.
Twisted metal and blackened debris are all that is left of Anna Spark’s container home and possessions, which were razed during the fierce Valentine’s Day fire that whipped through her family’s property on Christchurch’s Port Hills.
Despite losing everything in the devastating blaze, Anna says she still has plenty to be grateful for, thanks to a successful mercy dash to save her beloved animals.
“I definitely have a lot of grief to work through after losing all my stuff. However, everyone and everything on the hill with a beating heart that matters to me are still alive. What more could you want than that?”
Anna, 36, was at work as a security guard in the beachside suburb of New Brighton when she got a mid-afternoon call from her mum, who was on the rooftop carpark at Westfield Riccarton. She told Anna she could see flames taking hold on the hills near Anna’s grandad’s place, where she rented her container.
“Mum had spoken to grandad and he was already being told to evacuate. I knew I had to get up there straight away to save my animals.”
As she rushed home, her phone beeped with an emergency evacuation alert, saying all residents must leave immediately.
“My heart dropped as I knew the fire could already be on our property. I was pretty panicked about my three dogs, cat, goat and my late grandmother’s alpacas. I knew I might face arrest for going onto the property, but I had to risk it to try and save them.”
Anna rushed home from work when she got a call saying there were flames near her grandad’s place. Photo / Selina Nunn
Luckily, her two dogs and cat were in the container, and she was able get them straight into her car. She also gathered up her father’s dog and got them to the cordon at the top of the hill. Then she went back onto the property for her goat and to open the alpacas’ paddock to give them a chance to escape the rapidly approaching flames.
“The fire was moving fast. It was full on and I was pumping with adrenaline.”
Anna says in the “mayhem”, she hardly gave a thought to saving any of her possessions.
“I remember briefly thinking, ‘I’m probably going to lose everything,’ but I didn’t have a lot of time and getting the animals out was all I cared about.”
With her grandfather already safely evacuated and her father, who also lives on the property, at work, Anna was the last family member to leave. As she looked back, she could see flames starting to engulf the bottom of the property. Anna slowly towed her goat behind the car to the nearby Sign of the Kiwi Cafe, desperately worried about the fate of the alpacas she had left behind.
Anna's container was reduced to charred embers and much of the family's land was scorched. Photo / Woman's Day
Despite her container, and the outdoor kitchen and lounge area she shared with her father, being reduced to charred embers, and much of their land scorched, Anna says, incredibly, most of the other buildings on the property escaped major damage.
“Dad’s cabin higher up the hill and grandad’s house, just 50 metres from my container, were both untouched. My grandmother and her parents are buried next to the house, and the fire went right around them, but it blew up the generator shed right above and beside them. It was crazy.”
The family was astonished to find all of the alpacas had survived the blaze, says Anna.
“We think they may have sheltered in a shed in their paddock, which didn’t set alight, despite the fire racing down the entire fence line just two metres away. It was a miracle.”
All of their alpacas managed to survive the fire. Photo / Woman's Day
Anna admits it’s going to take some time to come to terms with everything she has lost. She had lived in the container for more than three years, moving onto the property to help care for her grandmother before she passed away with dementia.
“The hardest thing is losing all the memories of my grandmother – the letters she wrote me, special things she gave me and even some of her clothes. I also lost journals I had written over a number of years and a book I was writing on my laptop. Dad, who is a teacher, also lost a lot of sentimental writing and books he’d been working on for a long time.”
Another container with Anna’s grandmother’s antiques was also destroyed in the fire. It was a deep blow for the family, who lost a caravan housing Anna’s grandmother’s photos, diaries and family heirlooms in the last Port Hills fires seven years ago.
Anna’s grandmother’s antiques were also destroyed in the fire. Photo / Woman's Day
Anna is currently living with her mum, and is grateful for the support she has received from family, friends and strangers. She is determined to weave a new narrative from the embers of her old life.
“Although I’m still processing everything, I have an overwhelming sense of the tragedy healing relationships, and bringing community and family together. I’m a pretty positive person and see this experience as a redirection for me.”
Anna’s friends have set up a Givealittle page to help her get back on her feet. Search for “Port Hills home destroyed”.
