Kerikeri family saved from disaster by smoke alarms, fire chief says

Kerikeri fire chief Les Wasson, seen here at a training exercise, says smoke alarms saved a family from disaster. Photo / File

Smoke alarms saved the lives of a Northland family when their house caught fire shortly after midnight yesterday, a firefighter says.

Kerikeri fire chief Les Wasson said at least half a dozen people were asleep in the Housing New Zealand home at Matua settlement on Redcliff Rd about 12.20am.

When woken by the alarm the family discovered a fire in their hot water cupboard. The blaze had already damaged a switchboard and cut their power supply, so they had no light and no water pump so they couldn't use a garden hose to douse the flames.

When the fire brigade arrived the occupants, who were aged between about 17 and 65, were out of the house.

The fire had started spreading into the roof cavity but the family managed to remove several sheets of corrugated roofing iron and put out the worst of the blaze with an extinguisher.

The volunteer firefighters finished the job by locating and extinguishing hot spots and ventilating the smoke-logged house.

Two people were treated at the scene by St John Ambulance staff for smoke inhalation.

''If it wasn't for the smoke alarms it would've been a different story. It had the potential to be disastrous. The alarms saved them, I can tell you that.''

The house was smoke damaged but repairable, Wasson said.

The fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.