Mum-to-be overwhelmed by offers after losing everything in house fire

Palmerston North couple Corrina Jenkins and Corey Springfield lost all their belongings in a house fire just days before they are due to have their first child. Photo / Supplied

A Palmerston North teenager whose house burnt down less than two days before she was due to give birth to her first child has been overwhelmed by the offers of donations and help she received within a few hours.

Corrina Jenkins shared a Facebook post this morning asking for donations after they went from "finally having everything to having literally nothing".

Jenkins, 19, and her partner Corey Springfield lost all their belongings after a fire which started in a unit next door spread to their Ngaio St home in central Palmerston North about 9.30pm on Sunday night.

She was due to be induced with her first child on Tuesday.

"We are supposed to be having our son tomorrow and everything has fallen around us," she posted.

Jenkins asked for anyone who might be able to help them find a rental property to get in touch.

Jenkins' best friend Rosalie Oakly has invited her to stay with her while she found a new place and had also set up a Givealittle page to raise money so they could replace some of their belongings and get back on their feet.

Oakly said her and Corrina had been overwhelmed by the response and wanted to thank everyone who had made such generous offers of donations.

Madeline Rosewarne, a friend of Oakly who had been helping coordinate all the donations after Jenkins could not keep up with them, said since putting up a post on the Facebook page Jenkins had been inundated with offers from around New Zealand of baby items such as car seats, cots, bassinets, baby clothes, blankets, toys and even clothes for her and her partner. Other people had also been in touch about donating household furniture and other items.

Fire and Emergency specialist fire investigator Murray Kidd said the fire was caused by cooking being left unattended in the adjoining flat next door to the couple's unit.

"It's just one of those things that happens... They (neighbours) put something on to cook and something else happened and they went to attend to that and forgot about the stuff on the stove."

He said the flat where the fire started was destroyed and the flat Jenkins lived in was badly damaged by smoke and fire and was uninhabitable.

The property was equipped with smoke alarms and everyone was able to get out safely. Three fire appliances attended the scene at 9.20pm on Sunday.

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/house-burnt-down-lost-everything