Firefighters suffer heat exhaustion after searching for child

No one was harmed in the fire. Photo / Supplied

Two firefighters have been taken to hospital with heat exhaustion after searching a blazing house for a child this afternoon.

A fire service spokesman said the two men were part of the six crews that attended a bedroom fire in a home in Tirau this evening.

Initial reports were that a child was still inside the house when the crew arrived, and so fire fighters did two searches of the house before it was confirmed no one else was inside.

While the blaze was extinguished quickly, the two fire fighters began feeling unwell and paramedics were caused.

The spokesman said fire staff were trained to recognise the signs of heat exhaustion which included dizziness, excessive sweating and agitation.

He said suffering heat exhaustion was "unusual" and so both men were taken to Waikato hospital for observation. Their status was low, but paramedics wanted to be "on the safe side".

"They'll be fine, we just wanted to have them under observation for a bit," he said.

The spokesman said the work of the search and the heat of the fire would have been enough to make the men feel unwell.

"They're looking for a child so they would have been wanting to search hard."

No one was injured in the blaze, in Goodwin St in Tirau. The children inside had run out safely when they noticed the smoke.