Firefighters had to force entry to a Bishopdale flat to prevent a pot on an oven catching fire while the couple in the next room slept. Photo / Christchurch Star, Geoff Sloan
Firefighters had to force entry to a Bishopdale flat to prevent a pot on an oven catching fire while the couple in the next room slept. Photo / Christchurch Star, Geoff Sloan
Firefighters were forced to break into a Bishopdale flat prevent a fire while the couple inside slept.
Neighbours raised the alarm at 7.45am on Thursday when they saw smoke escaping from a Veronica Pl flat, alerting the Fire Service there might be people inside.
They also heard the smoke alarm.
When firefighters arrived they banged on the door to alert anyone who was inside.
When there was no response they cut their way through safety latches on a window and climbed in.
"The (smoke) alarm was audible through the door so I'm not to sure why they didn't wake up . . . they are quite lucky as these kind of fires can get pretty big, pretty fast," he said.
Mr Fairbrass said it was an all to common event they had to deal with and had one simple message.
"Keep looking while your cooking," he said.
While firefighters were clearing the house of smoke they installed another smoke alarm in the bedroom.