KEY POINTS:
A Pukekohe woman who died in a suspicious house fire would have celebrated the 13th birthday of one of her sons today.
Lynette Chapman, a caregiver in her 40s, was found dead in her Wellington St home after firefighters put out a blaze that began about 12.50am yesterday.
A 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old youth appeared in the Pukekohe Youth Court yesterday charged with arson in relation to the incident.
Police, who have not yet revealed how Ms Chapman died, were not saying if more serious charges would be laid.
Stunned neighbours told the Herald they were mourning a "beautiful lady" who was a single mother of three boys - Todd, aged about 20, Brad, aged 18 and Cole, who turns 13 today.
The boys were understood to have been staying with their father in Waiuku at the time of the fire.
One of Ms Chapman's neighbours, who asked not to be named, said Brad arrived home yesterday morning, devastated at the loss of his mother.
"He wasn't too good," he said. "He cried his heart out and just talked to everybody."
The man said Brad told him that his mother had removed smoke alarms from the home just weeks ago because they always went off when she was cooking toast. "He said, 'Mum took them out a few weeks ago because she couldn't stand the noise', and he was shaking his head. And then he had to go and identify her."
The neighbour said Brad also expressed devastation over the fact that the family had lost all their possessions, including every photo they had of their mother.
He described a desperate wait of almost two hours from when the fire began to when firefighters confirmed that Ms Chapman had died.
The young girl arrested for arson was known to the family.
A woman at the girl's home did not want to comment last night but said she was planning to convey her condolences to Ms Chapman's family at a later date.
The girl and the arrested youth, a builder, were remanded in custody. The pair will reappear in court on Friday.
