Twins fight fire trauma

Mason and Landon know exactly what to do if they hear a smoke alarm.

‘‘Run outside,’’ the four-yearold Waikato twins chorus. Just over a month ago, the Thomas brothers watched their family’s Gordonton home go up in flames. ‘‘I was crying,’’ Mason said. The house was destroyed in the June 29 blaze, and the boys’ dad saved their then 13-month-old sister, Addilynn.

Yesterday, the Thomas twins were racing around Hamilton’s Chartwell station in child-sized fire uniforms.

They had a ride in a fire engine – their highlight – watched cartoons with the firefighters, lunched on sausages, and dished out muffins made by their mum, Courtney Thomas.

The twins are still affected by the fire, she said.

Mason won’t go near his grandparents’ fireplace and Landon talks about his ‘‘imaginary policeman’’ being in the fire.

Back to the smoke alarms: the boys know the drill because of the Fire Awareness and Intervention Programme.

Hamilton fire risk management officer Jess Johnson showed the boys what the smoke alarm sounded like, and taught them to get out to a safe place.

One day after that, the smoke alarm went off when mother Courtney was making toast.

‘‘They heard it and they both ran to the door,’’ she said. ‘‘Maybe if [a fire] happens again, I don’t have to worry about them. They’ll already be outside.’’

That gave Johnson the warm fuzzies.

The Fire Awareness and Intervention Programme, or FAIP, is normally for kids who light fires, she said, but the twins are a unique case.

‘‘They’ve come to us because they have been traumatised by fire, so it’s about us caring for them and teaching them it’s okay if a fire engine comes, and this is what you should do.’’

Courtney and husband Daniel are now uber-conscious of fire – they have only battery-operated candles at home, have both had nightmares about the blaze, and now have contents insurance.

They’ve been blown away by support and kind thoughts not only from Fire and Emergency, but also from others they’ve never met.

‘‘It’s about us teaching them it’s okay if a fire engine comes’’ Jess Johnson

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Twins Mason, left, and Landen Thomas saw their house burn down in late June. Fire and Emergency is helping them recover. They’re pictured with Niki Elkington, left, and Andy Murdie.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/MARK TAYLOR The Thomas family has been blown away by support from Fire and Emergency, and the community. Daniel Thomas, holds Landen, and Courtney holds Addilynn. Mason is sitting in front. Inset: The family’s destroyed Gordonton home.