NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Homes in fiery path reduced to rubble and iron

NZ Herald
22 Oct, 2013 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Although the weather was cooler yesterday, allowing firefighters to carry out back-burning operations across the Blue Mountains, the air was smoky and swirled with ash. Photo / AFP

Although the weather was cooler yesterday, allowing firefighters to carry out back-burning operations across the Blue Mountains, the air was smoky and swirled with ash. Photo / AFP

Harry Fuller is showing me around what used to be his family's Blue Mountains home - now just a jumble of rubble and corrugated iron.

"This was the kitchen," he says, pointing to a blackened sink and a pile of smashed crockery. "This was the lounge-room. And this was our front verandah."

The 19-year-old was at home watching TV last Thursday when a huge bushfire advanced on the picturesque hamlet of Winmalee. Grabbing a few photos and his bass guitar, he jumped in his car and fled. Not long afterwards, fire roared through. Nearly half the houses in Fuller's street, Emma Parade, were destroyed. Fortunately, no one was injured.

There has been little time to mourn lost pets and possessions - or, in the case of those whose homes survived, to reflect on good luck. Residents were grimly battening down the hatches yesterday ahead of extreme winds and high temperatures forecast for today, which firefighters fear could cause further widespread destruction.

Flames consumed Rebecca Cameron's front garden and fence last week. Her house was saved by her neighbour who pumped water out of his pool to extinguish spot fires caused by flying embers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We were lucky, really lucky," she said, as she hosed her yard and roof tiles yesterday.

A little way down Emma Parade, Margaret Schutte, 82, was packing a suitcase and turning her ute around in the driveway in case she and her husband, Jan, needed to make a quick getaway.

The couple were out shopping when baking heat and high winds whipped up bushfires across New South Wales last week. They returned to find their home intact. "I don't know why. God must have been with us," said Schutte.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Jan, an 85-year-old Dutch immigrant, was shaken by the scenes of devastation in their street. "He says it's like a war zone, it looks like when he was a little boy and Hitler was dropping his bombs," said Schutte.

Although the weather was cooler yesterday, allowing firefighters to carry out back-burning operations across the Blue Mountains, the air was smoky and swirled with ash.

On the main street of Springwood, also hard hit last week, shoppers coughed and rubbed their eyes. Several nursing homes were evacuated. All local schools will be closed today.

The NSW Rural Fire Service warned that conditions would be "as bad as it gets", with temperatures in the mid to high 30s and wind gusts of up to 100km/h.

Discover more

World

Firefighters ready to help

20 Oct 06:10 AM
World

State of emergency as huge fires rage

20 Oct 04:30 PM
World

Residents ready to flee

20 Oct 04:30 PM
World

Kiwi firefighters likely to help - PM

21 Oct 04:10 AM

Shane Fitzsimmons, the RFS commissioner, urged people in threatened areas to leave, preferably in the morning, and remain vigilant.

"On days like tomorrow, minutes matter," he said.

In Winmalee, Harry Fuller's father, Ron, sifted through the rubble of his bedroom, searching - against the odds - for his wife's jewellery. He held up a fragment of bone china - the outstretched arm of a Royal Doulton dancer figurine - and a charred page from a book on Impressionist art.

"We had a beautiful Aboriginal art collection," said Fuller, a retired ABC radio journalist, gazing at the remains of his home.

But he is already looking to the future, and planning to rebuild in the same spot, which has a panoramic view of the Grose Valley.

"It's no different to living on a flood plain," he said. "You know a flood's going to come some time. If you live in the bush, you know the bush is going to burn some time."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

‘Inexplicable’: Woman attacked by lion in Australia knew animal for 20+ years

07 Jul 04:23 AM
WorldUpdated

Erin Patterson found guilty in mushroom poisoning murder trial

07 Jul 04:21 AM
World

'Ridiculous': Trump scoffs at Elon Musk's new political party

07 Jul 04:13 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

‘Inexplicable’: Woman attacked by lion in Australia knew animal for 20+ years

‘Inexplicable’: Woman attacked by lion in Australia knew animal for 20+ years

07 Jul 04:23 AM

The woman had worked with the lion for more than 20 years at the zoo.

Erin Patterson found guilty in mushroom poisoning murder trial

Erin Patterson found guilty in mushroom poisoning murder trial

07 Jul 04:21 AM
'Ridiculous': Trump scoffs at Elon Musk's new political party

'Ridiculous': Trump scoffs at Elon Musk's new political party

07 Jul 04:13 AM
'Maximum pressure': US tariffs set to rise in trade standoff

'Maximum pressure': US tariffs set to rise in trade standoff

07 Jul 03:15 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search