Child playing with lighter burns family home down

A child playing with a lighter is believed to have started the fire that destroyed a house in Otumoetai yesterday.

The fire service was called about 8.45am to the Otumoetai Rd house, which was engulfed by thick black smoke with flames coming out the windows.

Greerton Fire Brigade station officer Steve Wright said when his men arrived they quickly determined no one was left inside then began to tackle the blaze, which took three fire trucks and 12 firefighters 45 minutes to put out.

Mr Wright said a child had been playing in a bedroom with a lighter.

He understood there were no smoke alarms. The tenants belongings were lost in the fire.

Makere Tawa and her partner, Adrian Tioriori, lived in a shed on the property. Ms Tawa said she had been inside the house just before the fire, but had returned to the shed to get something.

It took 45 minutes, three fire trucks and 12 fire fighters to battle the blaze. Photo/John Borren

"I don't know what happened. It just happened so fast. We walked outside and, next minute, it's smoking. We tried to put the fire out but we couldn't get back in the house.

"I have never seen anything go up that fast. By the time we had evacuated all the kids, the windows were already popping and the flames were coming out the top of the roof."

The tenant of the house had six children, said Ms Tawa, who has two of her own.

The possessions in the house were all destroyed, she said.

"It's gone, it's all gone. All the children's things are destroyed."

The tenant had put up the Christmas tree in the past few days and had hidden presents around the house.

The house engulfed with smoke and flames yesterday morning. Photo/Rose Thomas

Ms Tawa said she and her family had been homeless before the tenant took them in about five weeks ago and allowed them to live in the back shed.

"She helped us, we had nowhere to go, other than our car. She helped us and now this has happened just before Christmas."

Ms Tawa, with tears in her eyes, said she did not know where her family were going to sleep in the next few days.

A worker at Plunket next door said she saw the smoke coming from the house.

She raced outside, jumped over the fence and helped those in the backyard take refuge in the Plunket building.

"It was all smoke, the windows were cracking and then they shattered. Then it really took off," she said.

"It's just so heartbreaking for the family who live there."

The inside of the burnt out home. Photo/Ruth Keber

A Brookfield resident said he was washing his car and could smell plastic burning.

"I looked up, saw all the smoke and I thought it was the kindergarten on fire."

He was one of the first on the scene and said it was "unreal".

"Massive flames were lapping out of the windows and smoke was billowing out of the roof."

Even on the other side of Otumoetai Rd he could feel the heat, he said.

The son of a previous owner of the property said he was upset to see the house destroyed.

The three-bedroom, one-bathroom rimu house had been the pride and joy of his mother, who died about three years ago.

He understood a "lovely family" lived in the house now and he was gutted for them.

His own grandchildren had "bawled their eyes out" at the sight of the house.

Mr Wright, of the fire service, said the fire was a timely reminder to families that if children were playing with lighters and matches, to take them away at once and keep them out of reach.

If children made a habit of playing with matches or lighters, the fire service had trained staff who would be happy to speak to them in a non-threatening manner, he said.

The fire service also encouraged renters to call them to install a free smoke alarm.

The tenants could not be contacted for comment.

A Givealittle page has been set up for the house's tenant.