People are being urged to check that they have working smoke alarms after two house fires in which the occupants were "lucky" to get out.
"In recent weeks we've had a couple of house fires with people who were lucky to get out of their houses because they didn't have working smoke alarms," Whanganui Fire station manager Shane Dudley said.
Dudley's comments came following two house fires in Castlecliff over the last two weeks.
The first occurred on May 11 and crews responded to the blaze on Heads Road.
The second occurred on May 24, also on Heads Road.