Firefighter unable to save family home
A volunteer firefighter and his family have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from their community after their home burned down on Boxing Day.
Four fire engines and three tankers were called to the fire in Swamp Rd, near Burnham, about 5.30pm on Thursday.
The Jones’ family home was destroyed by the blaze, and they were left with only the clothes they were wearing. The house’s roof has fallen in and windows are shattered, every room has been badly burned, and scorch marks extend metres on to the lawn.
Jessie Jones, a member of the Leeston Volunteer Fire Brigade, was towing his children – Jordan, 6, Lauren, 5, Arleia, 4, and Izaiah, 2 – behind a lawnmower when he heard his wife Jo yelling for him.
He looked back to check all of the children were on the engine-less quad bike they were riding, but when Jo kept yelling, Jones realised something else was wrong.
Rushing back, they saw smoke coming out of one end of the house and dialled 111. Jones grabbed a fire extinguisher to try to fight the fire.
‘‘Flames were coming out the door so I knew it wasn’t worth it.
‘‘I dropped the fire extinguisher, grabbed a bunch of photo albums and came outside.
‘‘The fire was already going over my head at the time so I wasn’t risking going back inside again.’’
The blaze spread through the house incredibly quickly, he said.
The family thought one of their two cats had died in the fire, as the children saw her run back into the house.
People should get out and stay out if they found their house was on fire, he said. ‘‘As a firefighter I would want to push the message of smoke alarms, make sure they are in every bedroom.’’
Jones said the family had received ‘‘amazing’’ support from the Leeston brigade, their neighbours, and the wider community.
‘‘We have got so much support, it is actually overwhelming.’’
He said the family were doing OK for now but it was in the weeks to come that they would realise what they had lost.
The children were in good spirits but did not yet seem to understand the process the family would have to go through to get their house rebuilt, he said.
Jo Jones said the children saw the house burning. They needed to see the house wrecked, and see how long it would take to get fixed, she said.
The family planned to live in a sleepout on the property while their house was rebuilt.
Jessie Jones said they had lived there about two years, moving out from Leeston township for ‘‘a bit of space for the kids to run around’’ and some freedom for the loud family.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand specialist fire investigator Jason Hobbs said the fire started in the laundry room and the cause was electrical.
The fire would not have spread as fast if some of the doors in the house were closed.
All of the doors and windows had been open so the fire got a lot of oxygen.
People underestimated how fast fire could spread, Hobbs said.
It was the second serious electrical fire in Canterbury this week after the Kirwee Tavern was ‘‘completely totalled’’ by a blaze that was thought to have been started by a multi-board power point.