Family left with nothing after fire

Just over a week ago, Julie Hagan and Aaron Plowman were so broke their electricity was cut off and they had to cook two-minute noodles over a wood fire.
The Bay couple and their two children, Sebastian and Dion, had been living like that for a fortnight, resorting to candles so they could see in the dark.
The family thought things couldn't get much worse - but they did.
The house caught fire from a candle, leaving the beneficiaries and their children with just the clothes they were wearing.
Now they need public help to rebuild their possessions. On Monday night last week, nine-year-old Dion had been reading by candlelight in the family's rented Birmingham St house when he fell asleep.
"I heard the smoke alarm and woke up. There were flames going up the wall," Dion told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Remembering the rules of the Firewise programme he learned in school, he stayed calm and roused his sleeping father and three-year-old brother.
"I know to stay calm and get out," he said.
Dion's cool response to the 11.30pm fire saved his family's lives.
Mr Plowman was amazed at his son's calm demeanour.
"He came down the hallway and told us there was a fire, to get his brother and to get out," he said.
The family scrambled to get out of the burning house, having no time to grab any possessions. Moments later, the roof collapsed.
Firefighters were unable to save anything.
They have since returned and, scratching through the ashes, have managed to salvage two photo albums but nothing else.
Mr Plowman is a sickness beneficiary due to severe back problems and Ms Hagan works 15 hours a week as a nurse aide. The couple were struggling to make ends meet and also owed money to Work and Income.
Mr Plowman said that two weeks earlier the fire the power had been cut as they were unable to pay the power bill.
"We were cooking two-minute noodles on the fire for the kids and eating plenty of take-aways. We felt guilty about it for the kids' sakes but we just couldn't pay."
The couple had previously sought help from Winz. But when the power was cut off two months earlier for three days they were told that Winz would not be able to help them any more.
Mr Plowman said the hot water system in the house was at the root of the problem, with the monthly power bills for the family of four amounting to $200.
He turned the thermostat to low but it continued to pump out scalding water, he said.
A plumber inspected it but could not find any fault and the power bills continued to increase.
Housing New Zealand has found the family a two-bedroom house in Te Puke - which they were to move into today - but they have nothing to take with them.
Victim Support has also helped the family and their new home will have electricity. Tauranga Fire Service fire safety officer Ken McKeagg said:
"It was lucky the house had smoke alarms - or else this could have been a tragedy."
CAN YOU HELP? If you can help this Tauranga family, please phone 0274 860 631.