Hikurangi house fire: Grandmother Sara D’Ath devastated after her home burns down

53-year-old grandmother Sara D'Ath lost everything to a house fire in Hikurangi last month. Photo/ Avneesh Vincent

A Northland grandmother is devastated after she lost everything to a house fire in Hikurangi.

“I still can’t get over the shock that my home is no more,” said 53-year-old Sara D’Ath.

Fire and Emergency crew were called to her address at King Street on February 4, after they were alerted about a two-storey house fire around 5am. A Givealittle page has since been set up to support the grandmother.

D’Ath remembers watching a movie before she headed off to bed upstairs the night prior, only to wake up to a house filled with “suffocating” smoke.

She credits a young man who stays on her farm property for saving her life.

“He was watching television at my place when he noticed the fire, woke me up and got me out of the house.”

Firefighters arrived at the scene and comforted her for her loss. She remembers sitting behind a fire truck and hearing her house “explode” several times.

“I felt so heartbroken. Never in a million years did I think this would happen,” D’Ath said.

After she filled in her daughter and son on what happened, she was approached by Women’s Refuge who offered her some clothes and a lift to her friend’s home on the outskirts of Hikurangi - where she now temporarily resides.

Despite losing her home, she was grateful to have survived.

D’Ath said she has already had her fair share of personal hardships that she had to overcome.

Over the years, she was diagnosed with Lupus, a disease where a body’s immune system attacks its tissue and organs. And later with osteoporosis (brittle bones) after she fell and broke her femur bone.

However, one of the biggest blows came about six years ago when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

“Back then, I was working for an Oyster factory. I didn’t know anything was wrong until I went for a mammogram and got the terrible news.

“But I beat the odds after I had a mastectomy and was given another chance in life.”

D’Ath said her resilience to “stay positive and strong” comes from her dad who passed away a year and a half ago.

She remembers him as a person who celebrated life and reminisced about the “good old days” when she used to help him with his barbeque.

“I had all his stuff like the hand-crafted boat, photographs and his necklace he gifted to me years ago. But all that now is burnt into bits.”

The grandmother who had moved into the Hikurangi residence six years ago said that it was “more than a house” for her.

“It was a home for my children and six grandchildren who used to come to celebrate Christmas and birthday parties every year. Now we can’t even do that anymore.”

D’Ath thanked the firefighters and the community for showing their support and hopes to rebuild her life.

Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Northern Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.