House burns down, then burglars move in
A Taranaki family of nine left homeless by a house fire feels sickened after thieves broke into the charred remains of their home.
The Morehu wha¯ nau fled from their Waitara home in the early hours of November 23 when an upstairs bedroom was engulfed in flames and quickly spread to the rest of the building.
The blaze destroyed the family’s possessions but the community rallied around and they have since been overwhelmed by donations of goods.
However callous thieves revictimised the family by breaking into the fire and water damaged house over night on Tuesday and stole worthless electronic goods and other personal items.
Phyllis Morehu said she felt disgusted by what had happened in her home.
‘‘I’m just so sickened about the act that has gone on at my home,’’ she said.
‘‘Those things in there are toxic, we can’t even go in there and remove stuff.’’
Morehu said the thieves broke down the back door and went right through the whole house looking for things to steal.
‘‘If you really want it, I will leave the doors open – help yourself.’’
She said the family felt humbled by the extraordinary generosity shown by the community only to have it ruined by a few.
‘‘The majority of Waitara have been awesome, they’ve given their heart and soul and we have got tonnes of stuff.’’
While the family was incredibly grateful for the donations Morehu asked that people stop giving as they now had too much stuff.
Sergeant Bruce Irvine said police believed someone would know who was responsible for the burglary and wanted to hear from anybody with information so the culprits could be held to account.
‘‘Somebody has burgled this house and re-victimised this poor family,’’ Irvine said.
‘‘They’ve gone in there and taken a computer that belongs to one of the kids and there has been other stuff stolen from the house.’’
He said the break-in was a new level of low.
‘‘These people have already suffered with their house burning down and now somebody has gone in there and pinched all of their stuff as well.’’
The family had been alerted to the blaze by passers-by, Paula Sadler and Kellie Vince, banged on doors and walls to wake them up and get them to safety.
Within hours of the family’s plight being made public the donations began pouring in and they had been offered somewhere to live.
The Roderique Hope Trust has provided the Morehu’s with a fully furnished five bedroom house near New Plymouth.
Oakura couple Stacey and Horrie Glassie were the first to pitch in and helped coordinate the donations.
Stacey, a Te Wa¯ nanga A¯ otearoa tutor where Morehu is a te reo student, said she had immediately contacted the family to see how they could help.
‘‘The focus is on getting them back to normal routine, it’s been a big thing to deal with especially for the young children.
‘‘We’ve had huge support from Waitara High School, the Waitara community, kohanga reo, and Knox Church.’’
It was not known how long the house, which was insured, will take to repair.