Two people are dead and a third injured after a house fire in Coatesville Tuesday morning. Video / Brett Phibbs
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding an Auckland house fire that led to the deaths of two people.
Police and Fire and Emergency NZ personnel remained at the Coatesville property this morning carrying out a scene examination.
Detective senior sergeant Nadene Richmond, of Waitematā Police, said they expected to finish that some time this afternoon.
"Police are not in a position to release the names of the two people who sadly died, as the formal identification process is yet to be completed," she said.
Although the identities of the victims have not officially been released, it is understood they are a father and son who had been sleeping in a sleepout at a property on Māhoenui Valley Rd.
Richmond said police inquiries were ongoing and that they could not speculate on the cause of the blaze, as the investigation is still underway.
Emergency services were called to the scene just before 6.30am.
Two people have died following a house fire in Coatesville, northwest Auckland. Photo / Brett Phibbs
A northern fire communications shift manager, Daniel Nicholson, said yesterday that when firefighters arrived, it did not take long to extinguish the fire.
St John was also called to the scene and treated one person in a minor condition.
First firefighters arrived 18 minutes later
As the investigation continues, the NZ Professional Firefighters Union has come out saying the first firefighters arrived on the scene 18 minutes after receiving the call for help.
Voluntary firefighters from Silverdale and East Coast Bays were called to the property because career crews from the Albany and East Coast Bays brigades were at another call-out at the same time.
That incident turned out to be a false alarm.
Local secretary Martin Campbell said more needed to be done to help volunteer fire brigades - like ensuring that a career fire crew was able to back them up if needed.
"It took a fire truck 18 minutes to get there. That is a very long time to wait.
"This [fatality] is our worst nightmare come to fruition," he said.
Campbell said he did not want to take anything away from voluntary brigades, but said having policies in place that ensured a career brigade was there to support volunteers at the scene was a must.
It was important to remember that many volunteers were ordinary people who effectively had to drop work, for example, to get to the fire station in order to make a call-out, he said.
Even then, depending on who turned up, there may be no one qualified to drive the fire truck or work the pump at the scene, he said.
Campbell said "for months" they had been calling on Fenz to implement policies that would ensure more support for volunteer brigades.
"After this, we're definitely bringing it back on to the table."
Waitemata Area Commander Murray Binning said the agency's thoughts were with the family and the community impacted by the tragic event.
He said crew got to the scene within the expected timeframe given that Coatesville is a rural community on the extreme boundaries of the closest fire stations.
"When looking at resourcing we review a range of factors and wouldn't make decisions based on a single incident.
"We are dedicated to supporting our communities around New Zealand, and we continue to plan for their future needs, making sure we have the right resourcing, including a mix of career and volunteer crews, in the right places to keep our communities safe."
Binning said investigations into the circumstances of the fire continued.
"These investigations are complex and can take some time. No one should speculate on the circumstances of this fire before the investigation is complete."
