Mum relives lucky escape from fire

Maketu mother Philippa Boyd, who was woken by a smoke alarm, says she and her family are incredibly lucky to escape a fire which ignited in her son's bedroom. Photo / George Novak

An "unusual sequence of events" has been credited for helping save the lives of a Maketu family when fire broke out in their home while they slept as the weekend.

Philippa Boyd and son Mitchell, 13, had returned home from a friend's funeral on Saturday and went to bed about 10.30pm. Mitchell asked to share his mother's room after their pet cat Larry had made a mess in his room.

"It's really unusual that he would share my room with me," Ms Boyd told the Bay of Plenty Times.

Ms Boyd's other son Regan, 12, who shares the bedroom with Mitchell, ended up staying at a house of a friend he had bumped into at the funeral.

Just after 2am, Ms Boyd was woken by a smoke alarm she bought four weeks earlier.

"I got up and the whole house was already full of smoke. I was searching around looking for flames and went into the boys' bedroom and saw flames around the lightbulb," she said.

"The lightbulb dropped down and the ceiling around it was on fire and bits were falling on to the kids' beds.

"The linen was starting to burn so I woke up Mitchell and woke up our flatmate [staying in a bedsit at the front of the property]."

Ms Boyd retrieved a garden hose from outside and attempted to put the fire out herself as Mitchell and the flatmate stood helpless outside.

"I had the hose in one hand and the phone in the other but the lines were already fried," Ms Boyd said.

Meanwhile, neighbour Treena Radcliffe had jumped over her fence when she heard the commotion, checked if everyone was accounted for and called 111.

"The smoke was so thick, you couldn't see in front of you," Ms Radcliffe said.

"Flames were already on the outside of the house. They kept saying to me 'don't let her back in the house' but she kept going back," Ms Radcliffe said.

Ms Boyd said she wanted to keep trying to put the flames out "but as soon as they were going out, more flames kept coming".

"I stood there for as long as my body could take it."

Maketu volunteer firefighters arrived and took over, containing most of the blaze to the room before putting it out.

"They went in clean and came out black," Ms Boyd said.

Ms Radcliffe offered Ms Boyd and Mitchell her home to stay while they watched to see if the fire would re-ignite, which it did three times. Firefighters returned each time to help put it out.

Ms Boyd was back home yesterday "sorting out bits and pieces". She and her boys are staying at an aunt's house just around the corner for now.

"I just felt really devastated to come in and see my boy's bed. Looking at my child's bed was really emotional. It is something that brings things home," Ms Boyd said.

"We are so lucky."

Ms Boyd said the incident had left her with nightmares where she relives the "unusual sequence of events" but in her dreams she tries to get her children out of their beds.

"I am just really relieved we are alive."

The family rent the house from Te Arawa Lakes Trust, who have been in touch with Ms Boyd and offered support.

"It's just really sad because it's our home. We've been here for five years.

"You don't ever imagine that one day you are in your home and the next day you can't come back. So life is a bit upside down at the moment."

Maketu fire chief Shane Beech said early indications suggested the fire started from faulty light wiring but investigations were yet to confirm this.

"Without a doubt, smoke alarms saved their lives," he said. "The child's bedroom was fully involved with fire when we arrived."