Fierce fire engulfs home
A fire at a central Palmerston North flat was bursting out the windows by the time fire crews arrived.
Emergency services rushed to the fire in Ngaio St about 9.20pm on Sunday. Palmerston North senior station officer Chris Faithfull said he believed the fire was started by unattended cooking.
The property is a home that is split into two flats, with the back flat destroyed by the fire. The front flat was smoke damaged.
‘‘People were home at the time and they were alerted by smoke alarms,’’ Faithfull said.
A resident attempted to put out the fire with some water before getting out and calling 111.
Faithfull said as soon as they turned on to Ferguson St they could see the smoke.
They applauded the landlord who had installed working smoke alarms.
‘‘She had just come around and checked them the other day.’’
He said it was an example of how crucial smoke alarms were and how fast a fire could move.
‘‘We would have been here within five to 10 minutes of the fire starting and it was rolling out the windows when we got here.’’
Faithfull said in kitchen fires unless the person is confident the fire is small enough to put out by themselves, they should call 111.
‘‘If it’s a little flame in a pan, put a lid on it. If it’s going up the wall like this guy said, get out.’’
They also did not recommend throwing water on a cooking fire, which could make it worse.
Faithfull said crews left the property at 12.30am.