Family escape blaze, but lose everything

Wind caused the flames to sweep through this Hamilton house in just four minutes, a neighbour says. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A young Hamilton couple and their two infant children had a narrow escape after fire engulfed their home.

The family made it out of the smouldering house with just the clothes they were wearing and have lost everything they owned. They were not insured.

The fire - the fourth building blaze in Hamilton since the weekend - is understood to have started in a bedroom about 5am yesterday.

Waikato fire safety officer Roy Fleet said the blaze was not suspicious and could have been caused by a faulty oil-column heater. He said Fire Service crews arrived to find the three-bedroom weatherboard home "heavily involved".

"That's not an unusual occurrence given the fire has started in the bedroom, which was at the prevailing-wind end of the house.

"The wind has basically assisted the fire through the entire house."

Neighbours told the Herald the family - a 24-year-old man, his 31-year-old partner and their two children aged 3 and 11 months - had moved into the house only a few weeks ago.

Kyla Nagel, who was yesterday comforting the family, said the man awoke and could smell smoke coming from the children's room as his partner and children slept in the lounge.

He got his family out of the house unscathed after seeing the fire and then ran around the cul-de-sac to warn neighbours.

He was later treated for smoke inhalation at Waikato Hospital.

Ms Nagel could only watch as the blaze spread quickly throughout the house, which did not have smoke alarms installed. "It took four minutes to get from one end of the house to the other."

She said the couple were tenants and were not insured. "They have lost everything ... All they came out with was what they were wearing."

Catherine Sanson, who lives behind the house, was awakened by a flickering light.

She saw the flames and could hear windows breaking as her neighbour pounded on her door. "Everyone was panicking for me to get out of my place ... It was frightening."