Frantic escape from blaze
When Whanganui man Grant Garrett woke to find his house ablaze and roof collapsing, he leapt out the window to survive.
Garrett, 42, was left with nothing but the clothes on his back after his Gonville house was burnt down in a deliberately lit blaze on July 1.
The roof of the house caved in and the back of the house is destroyed, leaving a blackened shell.
Garrett said he couldn’t afford insurance for the house, which he has owned since 2014, and everything in it is gone. A Givealittle page has been set up to assist him.
The only person in the house during the fire, Garrett was asleep when he heard windows smashing.
‘‘I thought someone was trying to break in so I yelled out ‘hey’,’’ he told
Stuff yesterday. ‘‘I heard my neighbour saying my house is on fire.
‘‘I opened up my bedroom door, the only closed door in the house, to see the whole house on fire.
‘‘As soon as I opened the door, the roof collapsed. I tried to hightail it out the window.’’
He had to break the window safety latches to escape.
He said the house was engulfed in thick black smoke and he could see the embers falling.
It was an ‘‘unreal feeling’’. ‘‘From a dead sleep to chaos. I was still trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes and put some pants on so I didn’t scare the neighbours – a half-naked Ma¯ ori fella jumping out the window.’’
He said the house had smoke alarms, but they weren’t going.
After escaping the house he was overwhelmed but uninjured, so went for a walk to clear his head. A giant plume of smoke was billowing from the house.
Garrett said the arsonist pushed a couch up against the house’s rear wall and set the couch on fire, which spread to the house.
‘‘I was doing up my kitchen, so it had no ceiling gib or insulation. It was just in the ceiling and that passed through the house.
‘‘It was like the old football games: quick hands through the backline and it got to me.’’
Garrett does building and contracting work, but his tools and materials were lost in the blaze.
Many of his tools were handed down from his grandfather, so they were the biggest loss.
‘‘[I was left with] nothing at all. I had the clothes on my back for the first three or four days.
‘‘I had to bludge a pair of shoes.’’ ‘‘I’m a little bit unsure what I’m going to do or what step to take.’’
A police spokeswoman said police were investigating the fire, but had so far made no arrests.
‘‘[I was left with] nothing at all. I had the clothes on my back for the first three or four days. I had to bludge a pair of shoes.’’
Grant Garrett, homeowner