A family narrowly escaped a house fire early this morning in Tokoroa. Pictured are Future Veza (inset from left), who holds her 10-month-old daughter Kazeah, and her niece Soraya Erutoe. Photos / John Van de Ven
A family narrowly escaped a house fire early this morning in Tokoroa. Pictured are Future Veza (inset from left), who holds her 10-month-old daughter Kazeah, and her niece Soraya Erutoe. Photos / John Van de Ven
A young family has been left in shock after they narrowly escaped a house fire with a 10-month old baby.
Future Veza, her partner and her 10-month-old daughter Kazeah, and her niece, Soraya Erutoe, were all at the Tokoroa home this morning.
Veza said she had just made herself somebreakfast and was about to take her plate away when she noticed smoke.
“I walked into the hallway and ... along the roof, there was black smoke,” she told the Waikato Herald.
“I was calling out to my partner, I was like ‘my love, my love, come look at this!’ and then we ran out into the lounge and then the carpet was on fire and then the couch was on fire.
Erutoe said she quickly realised that an extension cord in the lounge had caught fire and jumped out of her bedroom window, while Veza, with her daughter and partner, left through the front door.
“I was just thinking ‘What the f***, what the f***’ and how to get myself to safety,” Erutoe said.
Future Veza with her daughter Kazeah and her niece Soraya Erutoe in front of their burning house. Photo / John Van de Ven
While the family said they don’t know what’s next, they knew they had options and a lot of family support.
“We might end up going to our grandad’s house. Cause our house, by the looks of it, is definitely not going to be liveable,” Veza said.
She said the fire claimed everything, IDs, bank cards, food and the ashes of her beloved cat, which died last year.
“What else can I do? Be sad about it?” Erutoe said.
The family believe the house won't be inhabitable for some time. Photo / John Van de Ven
“I’ve already accepted that all of our s*** is gone, the whole house is gone.
“There is only a few things I can control and my mood is one of them.
“The only thing you can do is be positive about it.”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it received multiple calls about a fire at a 10-by-12-metre dwelling at 10.51am.
“The dwelling was fully involved in fire on arrival.”
Four firetrucks from Tokoroa and Putāruru, as well as a fire investigator, attended the scene.
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
