Room move saves a life

Make sure your smoke alarms are always operational.

A young boy's decision to sleep in his mother's bedroom probably saved his life after fire tore through his bedroom early yesterday morning.

The boy, believed to be about 10, chose to share his mother's bedroom in their Maketu home on Saturday night.

About 2.20am they were woken by smoke alarms as smoke filled the house and flames began to take hold in his bedroom.

"Without a doubt, smoke alarms saved their lives," Maketu fire chief Shane Beech said. "The child's bedroom was fully involved with fire when we arrived."

Mr Beech said early indications suggested the fire began from a faulty ceiling light but investigators were still working to confirm the cause.

"As fate would have it, the young boy decided to sleep in his mum's room for the night. And they had two working smoke alarms."

People do not necessarily detect smoke when they are asleep. This was one reason why working smoke alarms were so important, Mr Beech said.

"Definitely without the smoke alarms it could have been quite a different story. The house was fully clogged with smoke and the fire was contained in the ceiling but by the time they got out it was creeping down the walls."

The boy's room was "completely gutted", Mr Beech said. Kiri Gillespie