Tragedy lurks in rural havens

Some people move back to the country because it is cheaper. But the remote lifestyle has its risks. ANGELA GREGORY and JOSIE CLARKE on rural fires.

The lure of seemingly cheaper rural living and a return to ancestral lands has been a strong pull for some Maori in recent years.

But after another tragic Far North fire involving the deaths of young children, concern is growing at the risks inherent in sudden returns to remote rural living.

The family who shifted into the house on Manukau Rd, near Herekino, are understood to have recently moved back to the area after some time away.

The Northland regional commissioner for the Department of Work and Income, Sharon Brownie, said the movement of people back into the regions from cities was considerable.

The newcomers included two or three generations of city Maori whose families had originally come from Northland.

Sharon Brownie said those returning were at times motivated by cheaper living, particularly if they had held unskilled jobs in large cities with high house rentals.

But many were not prepared for the realities of rural living, such as, in some cases, a lack of electricity.

Tai Tokerau MP Dover Samuels told the Herald yesterday that he had heard that the family whose children died in yesterday's fire had moved back from Auckland.

Mr Samuels viewed such tragedies as being in part the result of the transitional living situations that urban families carved out for themselves with makeshift accommodation.

A glaring example was that of the Matauri Bay family who lost three children in a fire after moving to the remote Northland coastal settlement from Hamilton.

On June 21, 1997, a candle used for lighting set fire to the family's plywood and corrugated iron shack.

Eleven-year-old Hakihana Pomare, the oldest in the house when it went up in flames, died trying to save his 2-year-old brother Maatihaha and sister Micheal , aged 6.

He managed to save his 9-year-old brother Darcy.

Murray McCully, who was Housing Minister at the time, said the Government recognised there were special housing problems in rural Northland.

He said the children's family were trying to build a home through the Government's low deposit rural lending scheme but had faced delays.

He also said that the children's deaths should not be used "as the focal point of a cheap political debate."

Mr Samuels talked at the time of the problems of substandard housing.

But yesterday he also warned of the need for families to prepare themselves for what they would find in the shift from cities.

"If they are not financially independent they should make sure there are chances for some sort of employment ... ensure they have tenure to land for a decent home."

Mr Samuel said there was a continuing rural migration trend and the quickest way to find accommodation was to set up in derelict houses and caravans.

"They are not suitable for family habitation."

In many situations electricity was not an option.

Mr Samuels was reluctant to comment on whether it was sensible to leave a 14-year-old in charge of children in such circumstances.

But he noted there were risks whenever a naked flame was relied on for heat and light.

Mr Samuels said he wanted urgent reports on whether the family had applied for housing assistance.

Northland MP John Carter said there were a number of issues tied up with such disasters involving substandard housing.

"We have all been trying to collectively address them ... Past and present Governments have been making progress."

Far North Mayor Yvonne Sharp said the need for education on safe heating and lighting methods was paramount for those living without conventional power supplies.

She said the council could legally force people out of substandard homes.

But that was not realistic in the Far North.

The issues involved in Maori wanting to live back on family land could not be dealt with by a strict application of laws and rules. .

While many new low-cost houses had been constructed in Northland housing problems were still outstanding and required more Government initiatives.

But the Commissioner for Children, Roger McClay, said poverty was only one part of the problem.

"There are many poor people who still keep their children safe."

Mr McClay said the three unnecessary deaths were a very sad reminder of children's vulnerability.

"One of the reasons that children aren't to be left on their own is they are vulnerable to such things as fire, burglars and accidents."

Mr McClay acknowledged the law allowed a 14-year-old to mind children.

"Yes, the law says that is old enough, but 14 is not very old if there are a number of children under their care in an unsafe situation."

While he felt "desperately sad" for the parents, Mr McClay said the tragedy was a chilling reminder children should not be left in unsafe conditions.

In February 1997, 2-year-old Kohine Edwards died after she was trapped in a burning caravan in Whakatane.

Police said it seemed the fire started when Kohine and her 3-year-old brother played with matches and paper in the caravan, which was parked permanently at the bottom of their parents' property. The parents were in the house at the time.

Nine people died in fires over four days in June 1997, most of them tragedies that could have been avoided if smoke alarms and sprinklers had been installed, the Fire Service said at the time.

In September 1997, a 9-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother died in a blaze which swept through their burning caravan in Feilding.

The children were asleep in the caravan with their mother and sister when a heater ignited bedding.

That fire prompted warnings from fire safety staff and Opposition politicians about the risks of living in temporary accommodation without smoke alarms.

The Catholic Church said the tragedy highlighted the need for more attention to be given to the social and economic reasons behind the upsurge in the number of people living in temporary accommodation.

Church spokeswoman Louise May said:: "The Government needs urgently to revise its policy on housing and look to get affordable housing to those who need it."

In April 1998, a senior fire officer blamed poor building materials for a house fire that killed 3-year-old Wainuiomata boy Kane Julius.

Wainuiomata chief fire officer Eric Speck said the house was made out of "rubbish" materials. "Everything was built out of combustible material."

In November 1999 a baby died in a Gisborne rented home three days after the electricity had been cut off, and the family resorted to candles.

In February last year, two 4-year-old cousins died in a house fire in Tikipunga, a suburb of Whangarei. But this time the house was well constructed and dotted with smoke alarms.

The boys' grandfather had been mowing the lawn when the alarms went off.

Jerome Marsh and Chanel Pukeroa died as their grandfather was forced back by the flames.

The boys, whose bodies were found huddled under a bed in an upstairs room, had been playing with matches or a lighter in a hut they had built from squabs and blankets in their grandfather's garage.

They had both been punished in the weeks before the fire for playing with matches and lighters.

This time, the Fire Service said it was not enough to rely on smoke detectors.

Whangarei's chief fire officer, Rob Saunders, said: "You need exit trails in the home to go hand in hand with smoke alarms, and those exits must be practised, especially with young children."

Youngsters needed to be taught that the only safe meeting place was outside a building.