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A fire at a Snells Beach home earlier this month has underscored the importance of working smoke alarms, a station officer with the Mahurangi East Volunteer Fire Brigade says.
Fire broke out in the garage of the home on Snells Beach Road in the early hours of Saturday, August 7.
Flames quickly shot up outside the house, reaching the upstairs windows and began burning the beams holding up the kitchen floor.
The four occupants were alerted by the smoke alarms and made a hasty escape.
“The smoke alarms saved four people’s lives,” station officer Trent Morley says.
Firefighters from the Mahurangi East and Warkworth Brigades attended the blaze and put it out.
Tenant Robert Graham says in addition to himself, the other occupants of the house were his elderly father and mother, aged 78 and 76 respectively, and his 13-year-old son. One of his dogs perished in the blaze.
Mr Graham says he normally uses the garage as a bedroom, but for some reason that night he elected to sleep upstairs in a spare room. He had to make his way downstairs to rescue his son, who sleeps in a bedroom downstairs.
“The flames we had to walk through were just amazing,” he says.
Mr Graham says all his possessions were in the garage and he has lost everything, including his clothes, passport, electric scooters and gym equipment.
Mr Graham suspects a firework was thrown under the garage door as a prank and this sparked the fire. The door is left slightly open at night to allow a cat to enter.
Mr Graham says he found an empty cannister from a Roman Candle thrown under a car outside.
However, last week Trent Morley stressed the fire service was still investigating the fire and its cause had yet to be determined.
Warkworth Police Sergeant Mark Stallworthy said so far fire service investigators had not referred the matter to the police, which they would do if the circumstances of the fire were suspicious.
Mr Graham has no contents insurance and his ex-wife, Renee, has set up a Givealittle page requesting the community to give generously to help rebuild his life and that of his family.
Mr Graham hopes to buy a campervan to solve his immediate need for accommodation.
To support Mr Graham, visit https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/snells-beach-rd-house-fire
