Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Burning mattress forces Whangarei guest house evacuation

Northern Advocate
27 Dec, 2017 05:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The room where a mattress on the floor caught on fire and caused the evacuation of a Whangarei guest house.

The room where a mattress on the floor caught on fire and caused the evacuation of a Whangarei guest house.

A burning mattress caused the evacuation of about 11 residents at a Whangarei guest house but just how the fire started is a mystery.

Whangarei firefighters had one block to travel to the two storied house in Grey St when the alarm was raised about 2.45am yesterday.A resident, who has lived at the guesthouse for a year, said he was unable to sleep and had got up to go to the toilet when he noticed smoke in the hallway.

He quickly established which room on the top floor the smoke was coming from and opened the door to see flames coming from a mattress on the floor.

A fire started in a mattress and forced the evacuation of a Whangarei guest house.
A fire started in a mattress and forced the evacuation of a Whangarei guest house.

"There was smoke every where and everyone was asleep," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Residents included some suffering mental illness and medical conditions such as diabetes.

The smoke alarm then sounded and the residents evacuated.

A neighbour alerted emergency services while another turned off gas bottles on an outside wall leading to the kitchen area.

One of the residents remained and used a garden house to help contain the fire in the room until firefighters arrived.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The firefighters smashed a window and then a door to get inside and then dragged the burning mattress out," he said.

The residents gathered outside and were checked over by a St John Ambulance crew.

Another resident said no one was living in the room and the door was supposed to be locked. He had not seen anyone leaving the room and was unsure how the fire started.

He had gone through the room yesterday morning and cleaned up the ashes and was airing out the room.

He suspected some one who was not a resident at the guesthouse had gone in the room unnoticed and started the fire.

The property owner arrived at the house yesterday just before 1pm to inspect the room but declined to comment.

A fire safety inspector was thought to have been to the scene but could not be contacted by deadline.

Meanwhile, several residents on Riverview Rd in Kerikeri called 111 about 1.45am yesterday after being woken by a fire.

Kerikeri fire chief Les Wasson said someone had decided to burn a pile of vegetation in the early hours of the morning, and it was the sound of bamboo popping that woke the neighbourhood.

The property owner blamed neighbours for lighting the backyard blaze, which was extinguished by firefighters.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

06 Jul 09:13 PM
Northern Advocate

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

06 Jul 08:12 PM
Northern Advocate

‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

06 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

06 Jul 09:13 PM

The sexual harassment investigation led to the doctor taking 10 months' stress leave.

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

06 Jul 08:12 PM
‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

06 Jul 05:00 PM
'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

06 Jul 08:48 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP