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Manawatustandard.co.nz Intense heat and towering flames hampered firefighters’ efforts to save a woman who perished in a Manawatu house fire.
Dozens of firefighters were called to the scene in Feilding’s Fitzroy St just before 8pm on Wednesday, and many remained overnight as investigations into the blaze’s cause continued.
Detective Sergeant Grayson Joines said the body of a woman was removed from the property on Thursday and the death had been referred to the coroner. Her name has yet to be released. Manawatu fire assistant area commander Rodger Calder said firefighters attempted to rescue the woman on arrival, but were pushed back by flames ‘‘coming out of every window of the house’’.
Resident Hare Kake was one of the first there.
‘‘I ran down there but I couldn’t do anything. There was just too much smoke. We had just gotten back from shopping when we noticed it.’’ Kake said the flames were huge. ‘‘There was no way anyone could get in. There was just too much smoke.’’
Doris Martin, who lives a few streets over from the fire, said she and her partner noticed smoke and had gone to look for its source.
‘‘You could see the flames from the road.’’
Martin called 111 and said her partner ran up the driveway of the burning home to see if there was anything they could do.
‘‘[Someone] said there was a woman at the house so we started yelling and ended up smashing windows to try and get in.
‘‘It was just full of smoke, we couldn’t see anything’’
Martin said she had hardly slept and felt terrible they could not have done more.
‘‘That was terrible standing there, there was nothing we could do.’’
She said the fire brigade arrived quickly.
‘‘Between two to four minutes they were there and we explained what we knew, which was there might have been a woman home with her dog.’’
Dave Millar, who lives on Fitzroy St, said a woman lived in the house on her own. ‘‘We hardly ever saw her, she came in and out from time to time.’’
He said his daughter and her partner rushed in and said there was a house on fire.
‘‘By the time we rushed down there it was fully ablaze, the front of the place." Millar said the fire was a ‘‘bloody tragedy’’.
Calder said the Feilding brigade arrived at the scene to find the house fully alight.
‘‘They immediately requested additional resources. Because of the intensity of the fire they could not get inside.’’
Calder said six fire engines and 30 firefighters attended. ‘‘It was an intense fire.’’
The cause of the fire and where it started were still unknown, but investigators were at the scene on Thursday morning.
Calder said it was always tough on firefighters when someone was killed.
‘‘They know they have a job to do and they do that to the best of their ability,’’ he said.
It was not clear yet whether the fire was suspicious. REGION: Six-year-old Whanganui lad Te Kahu Hall went to the police with a ‘‘lost’’ poster after his beloved ball rolled down the street and was taken by a stranger.