The retired owners of a Wanaka house damaged by an accidental chip pan fire last Friday have thanked the fire service, community and family for support.
Phil Thirkell said his wife Helen had been slightly burnt and had cuts to her head from breaking glass.
They had also lost a lot of personal possessions after their living room and the top storey of their house was "wiped out".
But they had escaped with their lives and were being "well looked after", he said.
"It was so dramatically fast. We didn't get much of an opportunity to save anything. We saved ourselves first. It is so hard to do but we were told that was the right thing to do," he said.