Hoses on house blaze like spitting into a volcano, says neighbour

A young woman escaped uninjured when a Paihia home was gutted by fire - but the puppy that alerted her to the blaze was not so lucky.
A neighbour whose apartment overlooks the old weatherboard bungalow in MacMurray Rd, in the Kings Rd area, was woken by shouting around 5.45am yesterday.
The man, who did not want to be named, had looked out to see smoke pouring from the house, directly below his balcony.
He had rushed outside to join another neighbour already trying to douse the fire with a garden hose.
By that time flames had broken through the roof and the hoses had no effect. "It was like spitting into a volcano," he said.
Paihia Fire Brigade Senior Station Officer Michael Fayne said the only person in the rental home when the fire started - thought to be a young woman from Germany on a working holiday - was unhurt but distressed.
She  had been initially tended to by neighbours, then checked by ambulance staff. Police  had also been called in as a precaution.
The dog, a labrador puppy, had died in the master bedroom.
Mr Fayne could only surmise why it did not escape in time. "Pets can be very loyal to their owners. It may have gone looking for her, not knowing she'd got out already."
Two fire trucks from Paihia and two from Kawakawa were called out, with firefighters at the scene until about 9.30am.
 Although several other houses were close to the fire, there was next to no wind and little danger of the fire spreading. Northland fire safety officer Craig Bain said the young woman  had been extremely lucky to  have got out unhurt.
The fire had been caused by an "errant ember" from the open fireplace landing on a stack of newspapers and magazines that had been left too close.
The newspaper had smouldered for some time before burning through the floor, then up into the wall cavity.
Mr Bain said the puppy had woken the woman a few times during the night, but when she had got up to check she  had not seen or smelt anything wrong.
The house had no smoke alarms and there was no sign a fire guard had been used in front of the fireplace.
"A smoke alarm would have backed up what the dog was trying to tell her.
"Firefighters could have been alerted earlier, reducing damage to the lovely old beach house."
Mr Bain pointed out that anything combustible should be kept at least one metre from any source of heat, such as fireplaces or heaters.