A clothes dryer has been blamed for Sunday morning's devastating house fire. Photo / NZME
A Far North family has lost almost everything they owned in an early morning house fire thought to have been caused by a clothes dryer.
Ōkaihau deputy fire chief Todd Campbell said the alarm was raised just before 6am on Sunday.
The Lake Rd home was only about 600 metres from the fire station.
"We could see the glow from the station as we left," he said.
When the first firefighters arrived, half of the house was burning fiercely but all the occupants were safely out.
The Ōkaihau brigade was backed up by two fire appliances from Kerikeri and Kaikohe.
Campbell said half of the house was still standing but was badly damaged by heat and smoke.
The blaze comes a week to the day since another family, on Heke St in Kaikohe, lost everything in a house fire.
In the August 7 blaze, a male occupant who was in a sleepout was woken by heat just after midnight.
He could hear his partner screaming inside the house, and he managed to get inside and drag her out.
The town's fire chief said he doubted either would have survived had they been inside just a minute longer.
A few days earlier, another Kaikohe home was damaged in a kitchen fire on Ōmāpere Rd.
Fire investigator Jason Goffin believed the Ōkaihau fire had started in the laundry, in a clothes dryer that had been left to run overnight.
It was a reminder to Northlanders to check their dryers regularly and clear out any lint.
Over time lint could build up and, after prolonged heating, catch fire.
The house was thought to have smoke alarms, but the family didn't hear them.
Goffin said it wasn't clear why the alarms didn't go off, but that was another a timely reminder.
Smoke alarms should be checked regularly to make sure they were operating properly and had working batteries.
He said one of the daughters had been woken up by sound of the fire and had alerted the rest of her family.
■ Relatives have started a Givealittle page to help the Woodhead family back on their feet.
As of noon on Tuesday, $3600 had been donated. Sister Elisha Woodhead also asked for help with clothing for both adults and children, school uniforms and household items.
Go to givealittle.co.nz/cause/everything-gone-2 or search Givealittle for 'Help the Woodhead family start again' to donate.
The Advocate understands the family has been overwhelmed with offers of help, with replacement uniforms, for example, provided within hours of the appeal.
A house in Mamaranui, in the Kaipara District, was completely destroyed by fire on Monday evening.
Fire and Emergency NZ were called to the scene around 4.30pm and remained there for several hours.
The fire was well-involved when crews arrived from nearby volunteer brigades, including Dargaville. Seven trucks in total were in attendance.
Dargaville fire chief Jeffrey Palmer said the house was completely destroyed, and he believed the owner had no insurance.
The investigation into the fire was ongoing, he added, but the homeowner believed the fire was caused by a bird's nest in a gas water heater.
"That's what the owner reckoned it was, but it's going to be investigated."
No one was injured in the fire.
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