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A hungry baby's early morning cries have been credited with saving the home of a New Plymouth family.
When Laura Greenhow, 21, responded to nine-month-old Aliana's cries at 5am, she heard popping and saw flames coming from the garage of their Omata Rd home.
Her partner Jo Scholey was quickly out of bed and began putting out the fire, while she dialled 111.
"I pay the mortgage so it was obvious that I was going to try to put the fire out," he told the Taranaki Daily News.
The fire started after hot ashes were left in a plastic bucket in the couple's garage, attached to the house.
After reflecting on the morning's events, the couple considered Aliana a star.
"Now that we have had time to think about it, she was a bit of a hero," Miss Greenhow said.
The first thing Miss Greenhow did after the fire yesterday was buy a metal bucket for the ashes.
New Plymouth Fire Brigade senior station officer Steve Dombroski said it was fortunate the baby had woken up.
"It just shows how quickly things can happen."
Hot ashes should be put into metal containers, doused with water and kept away from buildings, he said.
- NZPA
