Karyn Tuapawa at the scene of a fire at her home in Beach Haven, Auckland, New Zealand on December 14, 2025.
Video / Jason Oxenham
A wheelchair-bound father and his family will be homeless this Christmas after a fire ripped through their North Shore home.
Mark Rihari, a tetraplegic with multiple spinal injuries, has been moving between the hospital and a motel because the home he shared with his partner is too dangerous toreturn to.
“That house is going to be deemed unliveable,” Rihari said, “It’s going to be pulled down because the whole roof structure and everything, the fire was sucked so deep and so high in not even like a minute.”
“I could feel my arm almost on fire. It was screaming hot, just from the heat from next door.”
Wheelchair-bound Mark Rihari and his family are likely to be homeless this Christmas after a fire tore through their North Shore home. Photo / Supplied
Rihari and his family first visited the hospital but had to leave soon after because none of them were being treated for an emergency.
They are now staying in a motel but believe they will be homeless this Christmas as they’ll likely have to leave by the end of the weekend.
“It’s a massive headache, we’re going to be in this tiny motel, I can’t see the grandkids and we can’t spend time with the whānau; we have a large whānau.”
Karyn Tuapawa inspecting the damage at the Beach Haven home she shared with partner Mark Rihiri. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The blaze has started to impact life outside the home, including for Rihari’s daughter, who lost almost everything she owned and missed out on her graduation because of the incident.
Much of Mark Rihari's medical equipment was lost in the fire. Photo / Supplied
Finding suitable housing at short notice, even from friends and family, has proved difficult with his condition but he was grateful for how the community has rallied to help.
“The community gave me so much loving, we got so many cans of food and boxes and stuff.
The fire razed large parts of the property. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“We need to start giving some of it to some people that are also starving. I’ve still got time to care for others even in our worst moments.”
A Give a Little page has been set up for Rihari by his sister to help give the family support after the fire. At the time of publication, it had raised $2261.
Mark Rihari believes he and his family will be homeless this Christmas after a fire gutted their Beach Haven home. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Rihari’s partner Karyn Tuapawa earlier told the Herald she heard a big explosion at the house before it was quickly set alight.
“The end room’s gone, the washhouse and up the stairwell ... my room’s all smoke-damaged.
“My partner’s room and bathroom’s pretty much gone ... We’ve had to put him at the hospital because his equipment’s gone.”
