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 family on Auckland’s North Shore have lost their home and crucial medical gear just days before Christmas, after fire engulfed an adjoining property and tore through their own.
Beach Haven resident Karyn Tuapawa was at home on Saturday night with her tetraplegic partner, daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend whena large bang sounded the alarm.
“I was outside at the back, and I just heard this big explosion. And I was like, ‘What the hell was that?’,” she told the Herald.
“By the time I opened my back door, that was fully ablaze.”
Several explosions followed before the fire enveloped their covered carport and the accessible room behind, with Tuapawa’s partner losing his medical equipment to the flames.
“As soon as [the carport] caught fire, it just melted,” Tuapawa said.
Family members worked to move their possessions this morning after reported looting overnight. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“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.”
Her partner, who is in a wheelchair, escaped with the help of her daughter and niece.
“The girls got him out. I was trying to get our hose to try and keep it down. Everybody else around here brought their hoses over to try and help.”
Several gas canisters could be seen littering the courtyard of the adjoining property.
Tuapawa said the homes were designed for those with disability needs and there were between 10 and 12 people living across both at the time.
Karyn Tuapawa inspecting the damage at her Beach Haven home. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Her partner had been taken to hospital last night for his care to continue, having lost vital equipment in the blaze.
“[Emergency services] told us they were going to board it up. And we got here this morning and apparently people were trying to come in and loot. So I’m taking all my stuff now.”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it was alerted to the fire shortly after 6pm, with seven fire appliances and crews from across the city attending alongside support staff.
“They found a two-storey property well alight, and the fire had spread to an adjoining house,” Fire and Emergency said.
“Initial reports were that people might still be inside, but everybody was subsequently accounted for.
“It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control and the last crew left the scene at 10.30pm.”
A nearby resident told the Herald it was “looking pretty nasty” as emergency services arrived to contain the blaze.
Northern fire communications shift manager Ryan Geen said three crews from around the North Shore were immediately dispatched to the scene, arriving within five minutes of the first call.
A further two were called in as the blaze reached second-alarm severity at about 5.30pm.
