Smoke alarm alerts home owner
A fire which damaged an outside wall and porch of a home in Kaitaia proves the value of smoke alarms, a fire investigator says. The blaze started in a box of recycling left outside the back door of a Worth St home just before 5pm on Thursday. The home owner managed to douse the flames with a hose and the Kaitaia Fire Brigade did the rest, pulling up part of the porch floor and using a thermal imaging camera to extinguish the hot spots. Fire safety officer Craig Bain said the fire was ''non-accidental''. ''It showed the value of having smoke alarms. Smoke drifting inside through an open bathroom window set off an alarm and alerted the occupants.'' Police and Fire and Emergency NZ are investigating.
Rawhiti kuia farewelled
Ngāpuhi matriarch Marara Kaweora Te Tai Hook has died aged 85. The well-known and well-loved Rawhiti kuia passed away on June 26 at Whangārei Hospital after a short illness. She is lying in state at Te Rawhiti Marae with a service due to be held at 11am today before she is laid to rest at Te Kauri Urupā on family land at Rawhiti. She contributed greatly to her marae, conservation and many other community causes. She was awarded a QSM for services to Māori in 2017.
Real estate contest
Max Hart from Kerikeri High School came second in this year's national real estate schools auctioneering championship. Seven students from Kerikeri High School and Diocesan School for Girls took part in an intense competition in Auckland organised by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). Year 12 student of Diocesan School for Girls, Pippa Morris, won the championship. Hart was the winner last year. REINZ said although the competition was only in its second year, it was the strongest female contingent seen in the event.
$10m cocaine case
The trial of a 27-year-old French national charged with smuggling 24kg of cocaine into Northland will start in the High Court at Whangarei in just over a week. Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom is charged with possession of a class A drug for supply and failing, without reasonable excuse, to assist a police constable exercising a search power under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012. The cocaine, seized in Paihia last December 2017, had an estimated value of $10.8 million. His trial will start on July 8.
Truck stops traffic