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A South Auckland woman says her partner burned down their family home after smashing it up with a hammer yesterday.
The alleged attack left her and her son sleeping in a van overnight and other children staying with relatives.
The Manurewa woman said she had "lost everything" in
the fire after an argument turned violent.
Her partner "just lost it" after she berated him for still being in bed when she returned home from shopping for groceries about 1pm.
The man then allegedly punched and kicked the woman before their 14-year-old son intervened.
"He went to hit me again but I just went 'oh yeah' and my son pulled me away and we went outside," she said.
The woman and her five children then heard the sound of smashing windows in their Pantera Way home.
"Then we heard a smoke alarm going off, and another, and we thought 'that can't be our house'."
Police and fire services were called to the house which was engulfed in flames in minutes.
"I just wanted to make sure my kids were all right so I took them to my neighbour's place," the woman said.
"My neighbour wanted to go in and pull him [her partner] out but it was all on by then."
Fire fighters pulled the man unconscious from the house. He was suffering from smoke inhalation.
Detective Steve Brewer, of Counties Manukau police, said the man was under observation in Middlemore Hospital.
"We still need to interview him and are investigating his actions involving the arson," he said. "As soon as the doctors allow us to we will talk to him. He will also be facing assault charges."
The blaze burned large holes through the roof of the Housing New Zealand home. Police have stopped the woman going back inside, fearing it could collapse.
"We've lost everything - I'm sad that all the kids new Christmas presents were in there but I'm happy they weren't in there when it happened.
"We've just paid the power bills and now the DVD shop are going to kill us - I'm going to have a wicked bill at the end of this," she said.
Four of her children were staying with her parents in Otara while she and the son who had defended her sleep in their van.
"We've got nowhere to go - my neighbours can't take us because their house is full," she said. "We will have to go and see Housing Corp and hope they can help us."
