Fire spreads to claim homes of two families

Two families are without homes after a Housing New Zealand property went up in flames in the Wellington suburb of Tawa.

The flames, which began in an upstairs childrens bedroom of the Anthony St unit about 2pm on Saturday, quickly spread to threaten the conjoined property.

Josephine Matthews and her family live in the left-hand property, which was left with smoke and water damage.

She heard the fire alarms and smelt burning, but thought her son had simply burnt the cooking.

She went downstairs to make a cup of tea, and then she heard shouting. ‘‘All I could hear was the woman shouting ‘auntie, my house is on fire’. When I came out it was blazing. She was on the phone,’’ Matthews said.

She raced out the front door and had barely stepped outside when the flames appeared above her. ‘‘I ran straight back into the house to get my lot out.’’

The neighbour was lucky she got all three of her children out, because the most blackened room was their bedroom, she said.

‘‘I’m standing out here, looking at my house, thinking wow – 25 years of memories, down the drain. But again, it’s memories, I can make some more.’’

She had returned to the house at 9pm to find the family cat, named Dad, who had nearly been lost in the blaze.

‘‘The fire brigade had heard a meow. They opened up the closet and my cat just shot out, found a window, and took off. That’s the only reason we’ve come back, to make sure he was all right.’’

A neighbour said donations for the families started flooding in half an hour after the fire started, thanks to a post on the Tawa Community Facebook page.

In the right-hand property where the fire started lived a young family with three children. They were understood to have resided at the property for two years.

Neighbour Katene Temare said he had heard the fire started from an electric blanket. ‘‘I’m glad they got them all out, where the fire started was the kids’ rooms.’’

Fire & Emergency NZ shift commander Dave Meikle confirmed there had been no injuries from the blaze, which four fire engines from Tawa and Porirua attended.

‘‘Twentyfive years of memories, down the drain.’’ Josephine Matthews’ Housing NZ home caught fire from a conjoined property.

PHOTOS: GED CANN Saturday’s Tawa fire started in the children’s room of the right-hand property. Josephine Matthews – inset – lived with her family on the left. She returned home that night to get their cat named Dad, who was found by the fire brigade in a closet.