Fatal blaze kept rescuers at bay

The burned-out bach near Motueka in which two children, aged 12 and 11, died. Picture / Tim Skinner

Onlookers were helpless to save two children caught in a fire which engulfed a bach near Motueka.

Charna Maria Baileys Edwards, 11, and her brother, Whetumarama James Edwards, 12, were found dead in a bedroom of the bach after the blaze on Saturday night.

The children's guardian grandmother, 54, and an uncle, 34, escaped the fire, but both were badly burned. They are in a serious but stable condition in Nelson Hospital.

The fire is not considered suspicious.

Fire safety officer Paul Wigzell said it was believed the cause of the fire had been established, but he would not disclose it. Further investigations were being carried out to confirm the cause.

Motueka fire chief Mike Riddell told the Herald the fire could be seen about 2km away and was so intense when fire crews arrived at 10.23pm they could not get within 5m of it.

The two badly burned adult occupants were being treated by locals with water and wet blankets when they arrived.

The fire crews had been alerted to people possibly being caught in the fire on the way, but did not know it was children until later.

"There was no way we would enter the building, not with the building like it was. So we had to knock it down first before we could get in, which only took a few minutes," Mr Riddell said.

"We had two crews in there searching, but the reality is, if there was anyone in there we did already know they had perished."

Firefighters were at the scene in just over seven minutes but "to save those people, I believe, we would have needed to have been probably there at least two to three minutes, maybe up to five minutes, before we got the call".

"It's a total tragedy for the families, the community, everybody."

The children had been at Motueka's Lower Moutere School since moving from the North Island in March, and were both "marvellous" kids who had fitted in well, said principal Eric Davis.

Charna had befriended pupils of all ages, while Whetumarama was a talented young sportsman who tutored a younger pupil in writing. He should have been attending representative rugby practice yesterday.

Mr Davis said the parents of the pair's classmates had been rung by the school and the other pupils would be spoken to this morning about what happened, before a "tribute time".

"We want to keep it as business as usual as much as we can. It's absolutely devastating."

Local shop owner Peter Stalker said the deaths had touched a lot of people in the tight-knit community.

The children's bodies were removed from the burned-out remains of the bach yesterday and post-mortem examinations will be performed today, before the bodies are released to their family.

It is believed smoke alarms were fitted in the bach, but it had not been determined if they were working.


Bach blaze

* Started about 10.15pm on Saturday in the lounge/kitchen area of the two-bedroom bach at Mariri's Robinson Orchard, 4km south of Motueka.

* Family driving past called 111, then tried to alert the occupants.

* Boy aged 12 and his sister, 11, died in blaze. Guardian grandmother and an uncle were burned and are in hospital.

* Fire not considered suspicious.