All is lost, in family’s house fire
One moment he was looking forward to some deep fried chips.
The next he was outside watching flames consume the family home and everything inside.
‘‘The house was completely gone - they have their clothes on their backs and that’s about it,’’ Mangakino Fire Chief Craig Snowball said.
The three bedroom Waikato rental was completely gutted in the blaze on Wednesday evening.
Around 6.30pm the man living at the 90 square metre house in Kahu St was cooking some chips in a pot of hot oil on the stove in the kitchen.
He left the room momentarily and returned to find the stove top in flames, Snowball said.
‘‘He panicked. He got out and tried to raise the neighbours and some of them shot back there.
‘‘He grabbed the hose and went back in but by then it was too far gone.’’
When the first of three fire crews arrived half the house was ablaze, Snowball said.
‘‘There were flames lapping out of the back of the house, out the side windows, pretty much the whole house was smoke logged and damaged.
‘‘It was a little Mango’ house and it doesn’t take long for them to go.’’
About a dozen firefighters used low pressure hoses to externally extinguish the blaze.
With back-up from Tokoroa and Taupo’s operational support unit, Snowball said crews entered the house to douse the remainder of the fire.
Snowball said the man, in his 20s or 30s, lived at the home with his partner and child. He didn’t believe they had insurance to cover the losses.
‘‘He’s feeling gutted, as you would, but he’s a local boy so he’s got good support around the town.’’
A fire safety investigator was called and attended the blaze, confirming it was an accidental blaze that started in the pot of oil in the kitchen. Fire crews left the scene at 9.45pm.
The Taupo Times sent a reporter to the scene yesterday morning but had not been able to locate the family by the deadline time for this paper.
However if anyone wants to make a donation of clothes or furniture to the family, they can email; daniel.hutchinson@fairfaxmedia.co.nz with their details and we will pass this on.