The kids' photos, certificates, everything's gone. Everything we had was in that house.
Brian Joyce A recipe for disaster - that's what a top firefighter is calling a Kaitaia man's attempt to cook up a late-night feed in a home without working smoke alarms.
The owner of the Donald Rd home, Brian Joyce, suffered cuts to his feet and one arm trying to fight the blaze early yesterday, but counted himself lucky to have survived.
The kitchen, dining room and lounge were gutted while the rest of the Lockwood-style home was charred and smoke damaged. The heat in the bedroom where Mr Joyce had been sleeping melted a TV and lampshades.
Mr Joyce's wife and children, aged four and five, had been with friends in Kaeo overnight.
He said he had woken just after midnight, crawling from his bedroom at the rear of the house to the kitchen where he tried to smother the flames with a blanket. He fled through the front door and tried dousing the flames with a hose.
"It wasn't happening with the garden hose so I ran to the neighbours and bashed on their door, yelling for them to call the fire brigade," he said.
The house was insured and was likely to be demolished and rebuilt - but it was losing possessions inside that upset him most.
"The kids' photos, certificates, everything's gone," he said. "Everything we had was in that house."
He escaped with little more than the clothes he was wearing, and had to borrow a jacket. Firefighters retrieved a pair of shoes.
Mr Joyce was relieved the children had not been home, but was still badly shaken.
"I know the kids weren't here, but I still had to check their rooms."
The fire brigade and police had done a great job, he said.
"They were brilliant, but there was nothing they could do."
Kaitaia fire chief Colin Kitchen said it appeared the home owner had started cooking late at night but fell asleep with a pan still on the stove. He woke up about 12.30am to find his kitchen on fire. Alcohol was likely to have been involved, Mr Kitchen said.
The house was equipped with smoke alarms but none had batteries.
"It was a recipe for disaster," Mr Kitchen said.
It was fortunate that the man's wife and children were not home at the time, and that he suffered only minor injuries.
The Kaitaia brigade sent two appliances to the fire,
while Ahipara firefighters were called out to cover the Kaitaia station.
Kaitaia volunteer firefighters are still catching up on sleep after a particularly busy night.
At 3.20am yesterday - not long after they had left the Donald Rd house fire - they were called to a fire beside State Highway 1 at Pamapuria, 8km south of Kaitaia. The fire started in a ute by the side of the road, spreading to a stand of trees and a fence.
A nearby electricity substation was not damaged. Two fire appliances spent 45 minutes putting out the blaze. Police are investigating.
Northern Advocate
