Fire investigator Mark Bredenbeck sorts through the remains of Thursday night's fire at the Currie Court flats in Port Chalmers. Photo / ODT
Fire investigator Mark Bredenbeck sorts through the remains of Thursday night's fire at the Currie Court flats in Port Chalmers. Photo / ODT
When firefighters dragged an 84-year-old man out of his burning Port Chalmers flat and laid him down on the front lawn, his neighbours were sure he was dead.
The Currie Court residents said they heard a loud bang before going outside to find their elderly neighbour's house "totally engulfed" ina fire.
Gordon Ross said he could see flames spewing out one of the front windows, and rising high into the air.
"I ran down to see if I could get him out, but when I got to the door, the bedroom window blew out - boom.
"So I couldn't get near the place. It was totally engulfed. We didn't even know if he was inside.
"I was screaming out to him to see if I could get a response, but there was just nothing.
"We felt quite helpless. We thought if he's in there, he's gone. It was pretty horrific."
Another neighbour, Danny Brown, said firefighters arrived and started extinguishing the flames before a team was sent inside to see if anyone was there.
