Jerhome Heremaia stands amid the wreckage of his family's Portland home. Photo / NZME
A Whangārei family is heartbroken to lose 70 years of their heritage after a Boxing Day blaze decimated their Portland homestead.
Family member Jerhome Heremaia said his 14-year-old nephew was inside the Taipari St house when a crackling noise outside the kitchen caught his attention about 8pm.
“He got up to see what it was, looked out the window and he could see the flames.”
The teen quickly ran out the back door.
“But then (he) clicked his brother was still inside,” Heremaia said.
He went back and yelled at his older brother - the only other person home at the time.
The 28-year-old rushed toward the fire armed with water to try and put it out.
“A backdraft on the way blew him out of the house,” Heremaia said.
“It just got too big, they just couldn’t control it.”
Neighbours had noticed flames coming from the three-bedroom house and called 111.
Portland deputy fire chief Wayne Smith said his daughter rushed to tell him a house was on fire after spotting it from her cabin.
Almost the entire Portland Volunteer Fire Brigade responded alongside two appliances from Whangārei and an operational support unit.
“It was a big one,” Smith said. “The house was fully ablaze when we got there.”
The inferno was so intense firefighters were left with no choice but to battle the blaze from the outside.
“We couldn’t go into the house because the roof was collapsing,” Smith said.
Heremaia said the older brother was transferred down to Auckland on Tuesday to undergo skin grafting for burns he suffered in the ordeal.
Firefighters eventually left the scene at midnight only to return three hours later when the home reignited.
Fire investigator Colin Melville said the accidental fire started when burning fat that dripped from a BBQ set the deck alight.
According to family, the pair had been smoking fish on the balcony.
Heremaia, who was sifting through the ashes with family yesterday trying to salvage as much as they can, was devastated by the loss of their home - dubbed the homestead.
Olivia Heremaia, 59, said the home had been in the family for more than 70 years.
“It’s really devastating to our family [...] it’s hard for us because we were all brought up there.
“All my memories are in that house,” she said.
Olivia’s father had worked out in Portland when he was 17 and met her mother there.
Together they had made the homestead the centre of their family, she said.
On the night of the fire, Olivia was out in the garden so missed a few calls on her cellphone.
“I rang back to find out what was going and they said the house was on fire.”
Olivia didn’t know how bad it was until she hurried to the property.
“It was completely ablaze,” she said.
“Now there is no roof, nothing. Everything is all burned [...] there’s no walls, it’s knocked right through.”
The family had managed to retrieve some old photos and 21st keys from the debris.
“They were still there on the wall,” Olivia said.
A further blow has been dealt as the home was uninsured at the time of the fire.
“So, we lost everything - absolutely everything but to us at least the boys are still alive.
“But they’ve got nothing,” Olivia said.
Are you able to help? The Advocate is accepting donations of clothes or household items on behalf of the family. To arrange a drop off please email your details to editor@northernadvocate.co.nz
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