Home burns down after power cut

A night without power on the Coromandel Peninsula cost a family their home and possessions when fire, started by a candle, swept through it.

Not only was there no electricity to pump water to put out the blaze, but there was no telephone in the Manaia house, about 12km south of Coromandel township.
The parents and two school-age children fled in their car to the home of Manaia rural fire chief Mal McGrath, who keeps the settlement's fire appliance in his shed.
But he could do little to help, with only 2271 litres of water on board - less than a tenth of what was needed at the early stage of the inferno.

A neighbour who saw the flames from a distance put a 111 call through to the Coromandel volunteer brigade on a cellphone before the battery ran out.

But the dwelling - a five-year-old former kohanga reo school - was beyond saving, Coromandel chief fire officer John Walker said yesterday.

"The family could only sit in their car and watch it burn down. They were pretty distraught but resigned to the fact that it was well and truly beyond our control."

Power was cut to about 9000 homes over a wide area round Whitianga and Coromandel at 4pm on Tuesday. Strong winds and falling trees damaged two sections of the high-voltage network in remote rural locations in the north of the peninsula. Electricity was not restored until early yesterday afternoon.

Mr Walker said the disastrous fire was caused by a combination of factors.

With no lights and electric stoves, and unable to watch television or keep warm, those affected on the peninsula went to bed early.

The Manaia family were asleep until about 12.30am, when the mother woke to "a houseful of smoke". A candle had been left alight in the toilet to guide the children in the otherwise pitch dark.

Mr Walker said there was no water and the fire extinguisher was empty. The building did not have smoke alarms and the family were not insured.

"Everything went wrong, but it could have been worse. We thank our lucky stars they all got out."

Tuesday night was very cold with a strong southwesterly that "made pretty good work of it [fanning the fire]", said Mr Walker, a volunteer fireman for more than 30 years.

"It was frustrating. You feel a little bit helpless but you have to show strength to get them [the victims] through it."

All that remained on the site yesterday were ashes, some blackened remnants of corrugated iron roofing and a concrete septic tank. The fibreglass water tank was burned to the ground.

"This incident highlights the fragile nature of infrastructures in isolated communities," Mr Walker said.

"When services are disconnected people need to realise they are at an even greater risk and need to be vigilant in regards to safety."

The family are staying with relatives.

Where the fault lay

* 9000 homes in Whitianga and Coromandel had power knocked out after high winds blew over trees which hit lines.

* Two of the most serious faults happened in remote terrain between Kopu and Coroglen and between Coroglen and Whitianga.

* Power was out for nearly 20 hours.