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Police and fire safety officers have ruled out fireworks as the cause of a Christchurch house fire that claimed the life of an eight-year-old boy.
Firefighters rescued Aaron John Harwood, from his burning two-storey house in Logie Place, Bromley, about 9.30pm yesterday, but the youngster died shortly after arrival at Christchurch Hospital.
A woman occupant who had temporary care of Aaron for the weekend, managed to escape the blaze suffering minor burns and singeing to her hair. She was treated at hospital and discharged.
At a brief news conference outside the gutted house this afternoon Detective Sergeant Ken Legat, of Christchurch CIB, said investigators believed they knew what started the fire, but he declined to elaborate saying the cause would be determined by a coroner's inquest.
The two occupants were alerted by the smoke alarm. This fire happened very quickly. The boy has been trapped on the second floor. He was unable to escape. His was the middle room on the second story.
"It was not fireworks-related and we're not going to be looking for any other person," Mr Legat said.
"The matter will be referred to the coroner in due course."
Mr Legat said the fire "happened very quickly, as most fires do" in a second storey bedroom and Aaron had become trapped.
His caregiver, who was downstairs, unsuccessfully tried to save the boy and suffered "injuries consistent with being attacked by a wall of flame".
Both occupants had been alerted by a smoke alarm and Mr Legat said the tragedy illustrated the need for people in multi-storey homes to have an escape plan.
"They would have managed to get out if they'd had an escape plan," he said.
"They wouldn't have hung around and tried to fight the fire."
- NZPA
