Kerikeri firefighters prepare to tackle the fire in a Waipapa house as smoke billows across the neighbouring properties.
Kerikeri firefighters prepare to tackle the fire in a Waipapa house as smoke billows across the neighbouring properties.
A fire in a laundry attached to the garage of a Waipapa house may have started in the clothes drier.
The tenant of the Mawson Ave house said she was in a room at the opposite side of the building when she heard a bang and then smelled smoke at about 2.30pm yesterday.The woman said the drier had been on for the first time since she emptied the lint container in it two days earlier.
She was the only person home at the time.
As she stood out on the street watching firefighters bring the fire under control, she worried about her two cats which were shut in her bedroom.
Two fire appliances and a water truck attended and quickly brought the fire under control after connecting to a nearby water supply.
The fire did not spread from the garage and the tenant's cats were unharmed.
Houses in the street are among 68 homes and businesses around the State Highway 10-Waipapa Rd intersection connected to a private water scheme, sourced from a bore.
The Far North District Council is in the process of hooking the homes up to its own water supply, and will install a fire hydrant.
