A West Auckland family is reeling after a fire tore through their Henderson home on Sunday night, leaving them homeless - and uninsured.
Video / Supplied
A fire destroyed Digisha Patel and Chirag Shah’s Henderson home, leaving them homeless and uninsured.
The family lost everything, including clothes, food, and personal belongings, and are relying on community support.
Their home insurance was cancelled due to missed payments, leaving them with a $750,000 mortgage.
They say it was only afterwards that they realised their home insurance had been cancelled due to missed payments - leaving them with no home and a $750,000 mortgage.
Digisha Patel and Chirag Shah, their two young children, and two other family members were living at 5 Nephrite Lane until the blaze erupted around 8.30pm.
Shah said he was in Hamilton for work at the time of the fire, while his wife and children were at a friend’s home for dinner with his father, who was visiting from India.
“The fire started in my cousin’s room. He was eating dinner and came downstairs to do the dishes when the smoke alarm went off. He ran upstairs and saw the mattress had caught fire, possibly from the left side,” he said.
“He tried to put water on it, but the foam caught quickly and the fire spread rapidly. The whole building went up in flames.”
“We still don’t know exactly how it started. It could’ve been an electrical issue, maybe something plugged in. Everything’s gone, so it’s hard to say for sure.”
Fire crews battle the fire ripping through an apartment building in Henderson, West Auckland near Stephen Ave. Photo / Supplied by Alasdair Campbell
Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed multiple units responded to the scene, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The fire destroyed almost everything the family owned, including clothes, food, furniture, and personal belongings.
Shah said the extensive loss has taken a toll on the entire family, especially their children, aged 6 and 4.
“They’ve lost all their toys and clothes. They keep asking where their things are ... We had so many memories in that house. Everything is gone in the blink of an eye.
“They don’t fully understand what happened. They just ask, ‘Why are we staying at a friend’s place? When are we going back to our house?’ But we have no answer for them. It’s heartbreaking.”
The Shah family's home at 5 Nephrite Lane, Henderson, was destroyed by fire on Good Friday, April 18. Photo / Michael Craig
With the house uninhabitable, the family now face the prospect of having to rebuild from scratch.
“We are so much stressed out,” Shah said.
“We might need to demolish the house, and maybe we need to build this again. This house was on a $750,000 mortgage.”
Making matters worse, the family recently discovered their home insurance policy had been cancelled after they missed several payments – a fact Shah says he didn’t realise until it was too late.
“We had insurance when we first took it out last year, but our card expired, and the instalments stopped going through. They emailed us, but we didn’t notice. It’s our fault we didn’t check the messages, and now the policy’s lapsed,” he said.
“When we tried to make a claim, the insurer said it was cancelled months ago. So we have no insurance, and we still have a $750,000 mortgage on the property.
“I know it’s the biggest mistake of my life that I didn’t check the email that my policy got cancelled.”
Firefighters fight the blaze in a three-storey housing block in Henderson on Friday, April 18. Photo / Hayden Woodward
The family are now relying on community support as they try to recover from the loss.
“When we entered into the house, all our daily essentials like clothes, food, furniture got burned,” Shah said.
“I don’t even know where to start. We are literally left with nothing.”
“I request you all that please help me as much as possible, as your little help can change my life,” she wrote.
The family are currently staying with relatives while they figure out their next steps.
Patel said she’s overwhelmed by the kindness of those who have already donated or reached out with offers of help.
Digisha Patel (left, with Kyara, 4, Hriyana, 6, and Chirag Shah) has set up a Givealittle page after fire destroyed the family's Henderson home. Photo / Michael Craig
“I never imagined this would happen to us. Everything was fine – and then, in a few minutes, everything was gone. We are so grateful to the firemen who tried so hard to stop it, but the damage was just too much.”
Shah said he hopes others can learn from what happened to their family.
“Please check your insurance. Don’t make the mistake I made. It only takes a moment to lose everything.
