Two house fires in 24 hours keep crews busy
Homes in Hastings, Waipukurau damaged
Two family homes have gone up in flames after fires in Hastings and Waipukurau. The first blaze happened on Portsmouth Rd in Flaxmere, Hastings about 9.30pm on Friday where firefighters found a single-storey home “well alight”.
Fire and Emergency NZ confirmed a family was at home at the time the fire started.
People inside the house had to quickly escape but no one suffered serious injury.
Fire and Emergency NZ confirmed the cause of the fire was likely unattended cooking, and two fire trucks attended from Hastings.
Firefighters had the blaze under control in about half an hour and stopped it from spreading to other buildings. However, the house was severely damaged.
Less than 24 hours later, about 8.25pm on Saturday, fire crews again rushed to another house fire on Saint Joseph St in Waipukurau.
Firefighters battled the blaze for about 45 minutes before getting it under control.
No one was at home at the time and a neighbour alerted fire services. The family who lived at the home returned to find their house severely damaged.
The fire was contained to a part of the house but caused significant damage.
Two fire trucks attended from Waipukurau and one from Waipawa, and a fire investigator was at the scene yesterday looking into the cause.
Fire and Emergency NZ Hawke’s Bay group manager Glen Varcoe said a recovery team attended both fires to help manage the welfare of the two families.
Varcoe urged people to be careful while cooking, following the fire in Flaxmere.
“Keep looking while you’re cooking and always monitor your cooking, never leave it unattended because these things can happen in a blink of an eye,” he said.
“Coming into winter we [also] encourage people to be mindful of heating, particularly electric blankets and getting power leads for heaters checked coming into the colder season.”
The fires follow a suspicious car fire that blocked a Lennox Park car park area in Waiohiki on Thursday night, not far from Napier Golf Club.
The fire was “well involved” when firefighters arrived just before 9pm. The incident has been reported to police.
One person was also taken to hospital with burns to their right hand, after a car fire on a Willowpark
Rd property in Akina, Hastings about 9pm on Thursday.
Firefighters received multiple calls about the blaze. St John Ambulance was also called and took the person to hospital.