Petrol-sniffing child burned

A petrol-sniffing 12-year-old was seriously injured and a woman is dead after two separate fires in Manukau last night.

The girl was injured after accidentally igniting fumes from the petrol she was sniffing in Mangere.

Her friend managed to get her to a nearby pond and extinguish the flames, and she was taken to Middlemore.

"If anything, it will be her proximity to Middlemore that will save her," said Fire Service spokesman Tony McDonald.

The emergency calls for the two blazes, in Papatoetoe and Mangere, came within 15 seconds of each other around 8.30pm.

In the second incident, firefighters arrived at the home in Birdwood Ave, Papatoetoe, to find the two-storey building in flames and found a 45-year-old woman dead at the scene.

Mr McDonald said it was too early to say what caused the fire or if smoke alarms were installed, but police and fire services were investigating.