A Givealittle page has been set up to help a Northland solo father and eight children who lost their home and everything they owned in a fire on December 31. Go to givealittle.co.nz/cause/please-help-this-family-get-back-on-their-feet (or go to givealittle.co.nz then search for "Please help this family get back on their feet"). Tui Strachan and his children were asleep when the fire started in their Leonard St home in Kawakawa about 5.50am. The house was uninsured. No one was injured but a bull terrier, the family pet, was still missing yesterday. Donations of goods, particularly children's clothing, can be dropped off at 220 Waitaheke Rd, Ōhaeawai, or 3 Leonard St, Kawakawa. The children's ages are 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 19 and 21, shoe sizes 5, 6, 7 and 8. There are two boys and six girls.
Kerikeri fire contained
A family came within seconds of losing their boat — and possibly their home — when a fire broke out on their rural Kerikeri property about 4.15pm on Thursday. No one was home at the Wharau Rd address when a neighbour investigating smoke found the backyard grass fire. Fire chief Les Wasson, who was one of the first at the scene, managed to douse flames just 2m from the house and surrounding a boat parked on the lawn. Flames also spread through an area of about 30m x 30m in an adjoining paddock. Two fire appliances and two tankers responded. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
Bad weather forecast
Heavy rain and thunder could hit Northland this evening, the MetService warns.
During today, a trough spreads onto the North Island from the south, and a period of rain with heavy falls is expected in many central and northern areas of the Island. In areas of Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and Taupō there is an increased risk that short term rainfalls may reach warning amounts and thunderstorms.
