Good neighbour comes to rescue
A man who alerted his neighbours their house was on fire says he is just glad no-one was hurt.
About 12.30pm yesterday, black smoke could be seen billowing across New Plymouth from the house fire on Blackmore St in the suburb of Lynmouth.
Three Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews were quickly at the scene and were able to bring the fire under control by 1pm.
No one was hurt in the blaze thanks to neighbour Gary Ngaia.
‘‘I was working in my garden and looked across and saw flames in the window,’’ he said.
Ngaia immediately went to property and banged on the door to alert the occupants to the danger. Inside were two children and an adult, who quickly got out of the house.
It all happened very fast, Ngaia said.
‘‘I’m just happy they are out. No one’s hurt. It’s only material stuff that’s gone up. All that stuff can be replaced.’’
Another neighbour, Jovan Chenthattel, said he was watching TV when his sister told him about the smoke.
There were big flames by the kitchen side, he said.
‘‘The smoke was coming out from the roof.’’
New Plymouth Fire and Emergency senior station officer Blake Marston said the call initially came through as a kitchen fire.
‘‘On leaving the station, we observed black smoke in the sky and our comms centre told us we had multiple calls.
‘‘On arrival we found a single-story house well involved.’’
They ascertained that everyone was out and that no one was injured because they had been alerted to the fire by a neighbour.
Marston said there was significant fire damage to the kitchen and the rear of the house and smoke damage to the rest.
The quick work of the crews managed to extinguish the fire and stop it spreading to the neighbours, he said.
Twelve firefighters and an operational support unit attended. It took about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.
‘‘No one was injured, that’s the best part about this,’’ Marston said.
‘‘The cause has yet to be determined. However, the fire has started in the kitchen.’’
He said there were working smoke alarms at the property and it was a good reminder for people to check theirs.