Paint strip method led to fire

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze in the Far North believed to have been caused by a blowtorch. Photo / Peter Jackson

A blowtorch used in renovations is understood to have caused a fire which damaged a villa in the Far North.

Kaitaia volunteer fire crews were called to a Rotokawau Rd address in Waipapakauri, north-west of Kaitaia, about 2.20pm on Saturday.

Fire chief Colin Kitchen was back at the scene of the blaze yesterday and said the suspected cause of the fire was a blowtorch.

"They've been burning the paint off the walls with a blowtorch, and the fire's got into the ceiling," Mr Kitchen said.

The technique of using a blowtorch on paintwork softens the paint so it can be more easily scraped off. A man in the house had been working with a blowtorch for several hours before the fire took hold.

Mr Kitchen said it appeared building paper laid as part of the renovation had caught fire, and had been burning in the ceiling for a while before crews arrived.

Kaitaia senior station officer Ross Beddows said the first appliance was on the scene, some 15 kilometres north of Kaitaia, in "10 minutes flat", but even so had arrived only in the nick of time.

A second appliance and the water tanker were close behind the first crew, Mr Beddows said adding that the old villa had been minutes away from being totally involved by the time the first hoses were in action.

The house suffered smoke and water damage, but was insured. Mr Kitchen praised the efforts of the volunteer crews in bringing the fire under control, minimising the potential damage to the property.

He urged people undertaking such renovations to take extra care, and have a hose or other water source on hand as a precaution.