Man suffers serious burns in house fire
A man was heard screaming and a ‘‘bang’’ echoed through the neighbourhood as a fire started in a block of council flats in Christchurch.
Emergency services were called to the council-owned Innes Courts complex, on Innes Rd between Philpotts and Mahars roads, Mairehau, about 3.10pm yesterday.
A St John spokesman said one man had critical injuries, believed to be burns, and another had moderate injuries. Both were transported to Christchurch Hospital, he said.
A nearby resident said a police officer at the scene told him the fire started when a butane gas canister being used to make cannabis oil exploded.
A police spokesman said he could not ‘‘substantiate’’ the claim, but did say information provided by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) suggested a butane canister exploding was a possible cause.
A FENZ spokesman was unaware of the claim. A fire investigator had left the scene, but would be back on site today, he said.
Press photographer Iain McGregor lives nearby and said he heard ‘‘a big bang’’. ‘‘The house shook,’’ he said.
‘‘It sounded like my roof had collapsed. I could hear a guy screaming ‘please help me, please help me’.’’
He described seeing ‘‘thick, black, smoke’’ coming from a council flat.
McGregor phoned 111, but emergency services arrived as he was on the call.
He said paramedics attended to the man who was screaming, who looked to be in his 30s. He had made it some distance from the flat. Paramedics put him on a stretcher.
Meanwhile, members of the public poured water on a second man’s hands, before ambulance staff then started treating him too, McGregor said.
FENZ shift supervisor Brent Dunn said when fire crews arrived ‘‘the house was not well ablaze’’. One person was being treated for burns ‘‘by the other occupants’’.
‘‘They were keeping him cool with water,’’ Dunn said.
‘‘The fire has been put out. We also have a fire investigator on the way to have a look at the scene.’’
A nearby shop worker, who did not want to give their name, said there was ‘‘a lot of police cars’’. Innes Rd was closed off for a period between Philpotts and Mahars roads.
Otautahi Community Housing Trust chief executive Cate Kearney said she had not seen anything untoward on her visit to the complex, owned by the trust, earlier this week. ‘‘We have no knowledge of what has caused the fire, we are awaiting [that],’’ she said.