Church shelter for family after fire

A Tongan family forced from their Whangarei home by a house fire have found temporary refuge in the house of God.

The seven-member Fotu family were made homeless when a fire gutted their Raumanga rental house early last week, leaving them with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Fire inspectors said smoke alarms in the house were not operational and the family were "lucky to be alive".

Unable to return to their blackened home, the family were forced to take shelter in the neighbouring church, where Mr Fotu is the minister.

With limited space in the church house, the family put mattresses on the floor and converted a storage room into a bedroom for the entire family.

Clothes have been donated by the Salvation Army and church members have been helping them with meals.

Mr and Mrs Fotu made the most of a church meeting in Auckland on Friday and took the family's clothes to get washed at the same time.

The Fotus are desperately looking for a new home and hope to have found something suitable by the end of this week.

They also hope that people will help them with the basics they need to start again, such as a washing machine, fridge/freezer, beds, crockery and kitchen utensils.

Mrs Fotu said she was thankful to all those who had already offered support to her family through gifts of food and clothing.

Staff at the Department of Corrections held a "casual Friday" collection day last week and were planning to give an assortment of donated goods to the Fotu family by the end of this week.

Corrections staff had donated food, an iron and ironing board, bunk beds, duvets, towels, and a playstation.