'Crackling and banging' saved family from fire

Colin Bidois in the wreckage of his home. Picture / John Borren

The sound of "crackling and banging" woke the occupant of a Bay of Plenty home in time to save his family.

Sifting through the buckled remains of his small house in Pyes Pa, Tauranga, Colin Bidois said he was grateful the spreading fire awoke him.

"It's certainly lucky we are all alive. A few more minutes and it easily could have been a case of three charred bodies," he said.