House fire leaves solo mum with only her tears

Amy Madden, with Moroni, 2, and Malachi, 5, in the remains of their kitchen yesterday. Picture / Sarah Ivey

Solo mother Amy Madden, 29, was already struggling to make ends meet with her two pre-school children - one of them with severe medical conditions - when a house fire yesterday destroyed almost everything she owned.

She escaped the inferno with Moroni, 2, Malachi, 5, and her 22-year-old brother Terekia, a student.

But the children are now all she has.

Because money was so tight, Ms Madden had not insured her possessions in the rented two-bedroom Hall Lane house in the Hamilton suburb of Frankton.

Medical bills, nappies and food had taken priority for the domestic purposes beneficiary.

"It was little Malachi that woke you up and alerted you to everything, wasn't it?" said Ms Madden's aunt, Showanna Palaone.

Smiling but teary-eyed and shocked, Ms Madden nodded in agreement, then started sobbing again.

"I don't know what I'm going to do now. Where am I going to go?"

Ms Madden was sleeping in her bedroom with her two children in the bed next to her when noises from them woke her.

Malachi, described as a special needs child with "global" medical issues, had alerted his mother that something in the house was amiss.

"She woke up and immediately smelled the smoke," Mrs Palaone said.

But by then the kitchen and dining area were well alight, and Ms Madden had time to wake her brother and flee with the children.

"I had to grab the phone on my way out and stretch the cord out the front door while talking to 111."

Minutes later, the phone melted in the heat of the blaze. In a car yard that bordered the property, rear light fittings and bumpers on four vehicles melted.

Ms Madden receives $440 a week on the domestic purposes benefit and after paying rent, phone bills, power, and car insurance has $160 left for food, nappies, clothing, petrol, childcare and Malachi's medical expenses.

He has several serious illnesses, including severe respiratory problems, development problems which have delayed his growth, bowel ruptures, and complications from meningitis. He also has a hole in his heart.

"I now have no home, no possessions and no way of replacing things," Ms Madden said.

She was worried that the owner's insurance company would sue her for damages, said Mrs Palaone.

"She could be lumbered with this for the rest of her life."

The old home had recently changed owners - the real estate agent's "sold" sign on the picket fence was still up yesterday.

Firefighters said the timing of the blaze, just before 7am, was sheer luck.

Had the fire started at 2am there was a good chance that nobody would have woken, fire safety investigator Dave Jenkins said.

Early indications were that an electrical fault in the stove caused the blaze.

Mrs Palaone said there had been wiring problems in the house, including faulty power points and flickering lights in the kitchen and dining room area.

Mr Jenkins was frustrated that the home was not fitted with a smoke detector.

"She [Ms Madden] said she had smoke alarms but had taken them down prior to moving."

He said it would be ideal if all private property owners took steps to ensure their tenants were safe by installing alarms, but they were not legally required to do so.

"Commercial owners have a responsibility to make their buildings safe for occupants," he said.

"Housing New Zealand is starting to put in domestic sprinklers and hard-wired smoke alarms."