House burns in freak storm

Andrew TULLOCH remains undaunted for the sake of his daughter Mollie after a freak fire during a passing storm destroyed their Waingawa home and belongings yesterday and all trace of the six-year-old's mother who died 10 days ago.
"I only know one thing ? I will protect Mollie from anything negative and tomorrow will be just another day," Mr Tulloch said.
"Losing the house doesn't grieve me. It's a bummer but it's not like the loss of a life."
Neither Mollie or her father were in the Crofton Farm house, on the corner of Cornwall Road and Hughes Line at Waingawa, south of Masterton, when the fire started at the height of a gale-force electrical storm that struck the area shortly before 1pm yesterday.
Mr Tulloch runs an agricultural contracting business from the same property although only the residence was destroyed in the fire.
A lightning strike on the nearby Waingawa electrical substation was also reported that caused a power surge and blackout throughout Masterton about the same time.
Powerco network operations manager Ross Dixon said an insulator and 33,000-volt overhead line had been broken during the squall.
A witness reported seeing nearby power lines sparking and a supply wire to the house arcing on the metal roof of an adjoining garage.
Masterton fire service station officer Doug Flowerday said flames had already engulfed the single-storey house by the time firefighters arrived.
Very high winds had dramatically intensified the blaze, he said, and there had been problems at first with establishing a water supply for hoses.
Fire fighters contained the blaze within an hour and dampened hotspots until about 6pm last night.
The house was razed to the ground and the surrounding area blackened, he said, although a shed on the property was saved.
Mr Flowerday said the cause of the fire is yet to be established although the storm was most probably to blame.
Mr Tulloch was at the scene and watched in the pouring rain as his house and belongings were destroyed.
Mr Tulloch and Mollie were to stay last night at his parents' Masterton home. He planned "to get toothbrushes" for himself and his daughter, he said, as this was all they really needed for now.
"I was standing there watching in my shorts and a T-shirt while it was raining.
"They were the only clothes I had left. I had to go and buy shoes, long jeans and a jersey to keep warm."
Mollie had a spare school uniform and other clothing that wasn't being kept at the Crofton Farm house, he said.
"All memories of her mother went up in the fire and the key thing for me right now is Mollie.
"We're not the sort of people that will be stopped by this. We don't need much. Just each other."