Two killed in house fire, but disabled man rescued
Kevin Taggart was half asleep when he smelled smoked in the air.
As he got out of the chair in his living room the smoke alarm began to beep. Soon he saw flames coming from the rear flat of the wooden villa he lived in at Wesley St, South Dunedin yesterday.
‘‘I couldn’t go round the back because it was already well ablaze. I couldn’t go round to see if they were all right or anything,’’ Taggart said of the couple who lived in the flat. Two people died in the blaze.
Street resident Mel Ryall was returning home after dropping her husband at work when she saw smoke pouring out the back of the house about 5.18am.
As she called 111 she ran down the driveway and ‘‘heard this yelling from this wee man’’.
She helped Taggart, who usually used a walking frame, get to safety as the fires spread around the wooden villa, which was split into two flats.
Taggart knew the people in the flat, who had a dog called Honey.
‘‘I’ve got a feeling they’re not here anymore, I hope I’m wrong, I hope they got out,’’ he said.
Police confirmed two people and a dog perished in the blaze. They were found dead in the house. Police are treating the fire as unexplained.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis said police were working alongside ESR and fire investigators to determine the cause of the blaze.
‘‘We want help from the public, in relation to any suspicious or unusual activity or behaviour in the Wesley St area.’’
He expected names to be released today.
Taggart said he was in ‘‘a state of shock . . . I just can’t believe it’’. ‘‘I’m pretty devastated, it’s hard to believe.’’
After Ryall helped Taggart from the blaze she alerted neighbours to the fire. ‘‘I feel for (Taggart), he has probably lost everything and I feel for the families [of the victims],’’ a visibly upset Ryall said.
Another Wesley St resident said the couple who lived in the flat where the fire was were known to burn items in their section, attracting complaints from residents.
Four fire crews attended the blaze
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze.