Paraplegic woman’s West Auckland home gutted by fire, father jumped for his life with pet through window

• A fire gutted a home in Massey, leaving paraplegic Chloe Wigg and her father with nothing.
• Wigg’s father jumped out a window with their dog and was hospitalised for smoke inhalation.
• ‘All of my stuff that I used to get around and have a shower … I’ve lost all of that,’ she says.

Fire has gutted the West Auckland home of a woman who is a paraplegic - leaving her and her father with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Chloe Wigg, 33, said her dad, Kevin, 69, was forced to jump out the window as all the equipment that helped her live a comfortable life was destroyed.

Photos at the scene in Raynell Drive in Massey show large orange flames and smoke billowing from the property.

Wigg was paralysed from the waist down in a car accident nine years ago and has lived with her father in the Kāinga Ora house for six years.

She said she staying with a friend last night when the fire broke out.

Chloe Wigg with her dad. They say they have been left with nothing after a fire gutted their home last night.

“My dad was in bed asleep, and he just woke up to the fire alarm going off, the smoke alarm.”

Wigg said her dad ran to go find their dog but found a wall of flames instead.

He hurriedly grabbed their pet and jumped out the window wearing nothing but his underwear. He was later taken to hospital for smoke inhalation but is expected to make a full recovery.

She got the call at 1.30am from a police officer who said although her dad and dog were safe, everything else was gone.

“So all of my stuff that I used to get around and have a shower … I’ve lost all of that.”

West Auckland fire crews have extinguished the fire in the single-storey home. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Wigg said she had waited for five years while ACC completed various renovations around the home like installing ramps and modifying the shower: “It’s just all gone.”

She had not been to her home this morning out of fear of what she might see.

“I’m so numb to it all right now … I don’t want it to feel real.”

Wigg said all they have left are the clothes on their backs and her phone.

A close friend, who lost her own home in a fire seven years ago, has started a Givealittle to help them raise funds to restart their life.

A Fire and Emergency spokesman said they arrived at the scene about 1am.

He said when they arrived at the scene the fire was already “well-involved”.

He said at its peak, Fire and Emergency sent four firetrucks to the scene from three different stations.

After battling the blaze, it was contained around 1.30am. Crews had left the scene by 4am.

The spokesman said the fire was not being treated as suspicious at this stage.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.

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