Fire and Emergency NZ warns Whanganui residents to put smoke alarms in caravans

A fire in a caravan that spread to a carport structure at Kaiwhaiki near Whanganui is serving as a warning to fit out sleepouts with smoke alarms.

The Whanganui Fire Brigade responded to the call about 3.30pm on Wednesday.

Senior station officer Shane Dudley said a specialist fire investigator found the cause of the caravan fire to be accidental.

“We just want people to be especially vigilant with electrical cords in and around furniture, and it’s a really good idea for them not to be coiled up, because it can cause overheating.”

He said people needed to remember to fit their caravans or separate sleepouts, as well as their homes, with smoke alarms.

“It’s really important that if you’re sleeping in a caravan, it’s just like a house, and we encourage people to have a working smoke alarm that they check twice a year.”

Two pumps and a tanker attended and extinguished the blaze.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.