By DANIEL JACKSON and TONY GEE
Max Piripi's charred homemade skateboard and some barely recognisable children's books lie in the ashes of his home - the only visible remains of a young life cut short.
Eight-year-old Max and his father, Hone, aged 43, died where they slept on Sunday night when
a fire destroyed their small wooden home in the Far North.
Their deaths completed a circle of fire tragedy in the family, begun when Max's mother was killed in a car that crashed and caught alight about three years ago.
Yesterday, there was little left of the family home, which nestles into the bush on a ridge overlooking the northern Hokianga Harbour near the township of Kohukohu.
The tragedy came just hours before the launch of a major fire safety campaign in Northland.
It will probably be days before the cause is established, but it is known that the house did not have mains-supplied power. Instead, the Piripis used candles for lighting as well as a combination of solar power, LPG and other alternative energy sources in their home.
Their deaths follow those of three children in a fire in nearby Herekino in late May and of a man burned to death at Pakotai, north of Whangarei, in June.
Both of those fires are believed to have been started by candles.
In the year to July 31, 41 people were killed in house fires in NZ. A further six have been killed since.
The Northland assistant regional fire commander, Mike Lister, said he was beginning to despair at the number of deaths in similar circumstances. "It's just horrendous."
He said it was no accident that the deaths occurred in an area where poverty was rife.
He said smoke alarms and a fire escape plan could have helped to save the Piripis and others.
Yesterday in nearby Kaikohe, the Accident Compensation Corporation and the Fire Service launched a major fire safety initiative.
The ACC gave the Fire Service 4000 smoke alarms for installation in homes throughout Northland.
The launch was the start of a programme to get thousands of smoke alarms into at-risk homes in areas such as the Far North, East Coast and Eastern Bay of Plenty-Waikato.
Volunteer firefighter Dion Cuddy was among those first on the scene at the Kohukohu fire. He and others had to carry a portable pump about 400m up a muddy track, because there was no vehicle access.
The house was engulfed in flames and the roof fell in within minutes of their arrival.
The firefighters suspected that people were inside because a vehicle was parked in the driveway.
"But there was no way we could get inside."
Mr Cuddy, who is also the caretaker at Kohukohu School, knew the Piripis and had visited the house.
Longtime Kohukohu resident and former Hokianga Community Board chairman Bruce Thorpe was a close friend of Mr Piripi, a fisherman.
"By choice, Hone lived on family land without power.
"He wanted to live simply and self-sufficiently. He just liked to get up early in the day and go to bed at dark."
By DANIEL JACKSON and TONY GEE
Max Piripi's charred homemade skateboard and some barely recognisable children's books lie in the ashes of his home - the only visible remains of a young life cut short.
Eight-year-old Max and his father, Hone, aged 43, died where they slept on Sunday night when
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