Gisborne family escape unhurt from blazing home

Much of a Kainga Ora home in Totara St in Elgin was gutted by fire on Thursday afternoon. A Fenz fire investigator has an inquiry under way to ascertain how it started. Photo / Murray Robertson

A woman and four children fled their burning Gisborne home on Thursday
without being hurt.

Fire and Emergency NZ sent three crews to the scene at Totara St, Elgin, about 3.45pm.

“The Kainga Ora house was well alight when the first crew arrived,” a senior firefighter said.

“There were flames coming out the windows of the rooms in the front of the home.

“The woman and four children were all out of the house and safe when we got there,” he said.

“They were not injured.

“They told us they were alerted by the smell of smoke initially and then the smoke alarms in the house went off and they got out of the house.”

A woman and four children living in the house were alerted by the smell of smoke and smoke alarms and got out safely. The front rooms of the home were charred and gutted by the intense fire. Photo / Murray Robertson

The fire crews attacked the blaze with hand-held deliveries and successfully used a spray monitor to keep the flames away from a vehicle parked outside the house.

“The fire appears to have started in the kitchen area, though the exact cause has yet to be established,” the senior firefighter said.

A specialist fire investigator was to visit the property on Friday to carry out a scene examination.

The interior of the front rooms of the home was gutted by the fire.

“They were extensively fire damaged, and there was heavy smoke damage to the rest of the house.”

The family living in the house have lost almost everything they owned in the blaze but they escaped the flames without injury, firefighters said. Photo / Murray Robertson

The family living there have lost just about everything they owned in the blaze.

Fire crews were at the scene for close to three hours.