Smoke alarms are being credited for saving the lives of a family of six who escaped a blaze that gutted their Auckland home overnight.
The Beckenham Ave house in Royal Oak was well ablaze when fire crews arrived at the scene shortly after 1am.
Onehunga Senior Station Officer Len Opai said while the fire had caused significant damage it had not cost lives with everyone in the family getting out of their burning home "safe and sound".
"The good thing about this situation is that there is a family of six who were all successfully evacuated from the building due to the fact they had working smoke alarms," said Mr Opai.
He said it was a timely reminder to check alarms fitted in homes were working.
