Smoke alarms installed under a fire prevention programme have prevented a potentially fatal house fire in Northland.
Kawakawa deputy chief fire officer Wayne Martin said the Kawakawa volunteer fire brigade was called to a home in Moerewa, 25km northeast of Kaikohe, about 1.30am yesterday and found a small fire in the kitchen.
Fire safety officer Willie More said the fire was believed to have started at the hot-water cylinder, setting clothes on fire, and sending flames up into the roof.
A man who had been asleep in the house was roused by smoke alarms which had been installed only six months ago, under the Te Kotahitanga Programme.
"If the smoke alarms had not been installed, this would have been another fire fatality in Northland," Mr Martin said.
When the man left the house, he had closed all the doors behind him, which assisted in stopping the fire from spreading, and saving the man's possessions, Mr Martin said.
The house received a small amount of structural damage in the blaze.
The hot-water cylinder is being examined.
The Te Kotahitanga programme, a partnership between the Fire service, Housing New Zealand, ACC, Northland Health and People Potential, aims to educate residents in fire prevention and to install smoke alarms in at-risk homes.
Since it started in August 2001, eight workers based at Kaitaia, Kaikohe, Dargaville and Whangarei had travelled 400,000 kilometres, visited 9000 homes and installed 40,000 smoke alarms, Northland assistant fire region commander Mike Lister said.
Smoke alarm credited with saving life in Northland fire
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