KEY POINTS:
A joint funeral will be held today for two of the four children killed when fire engulfed their Mangere family home this week.
Fifteen-year-old Brenda Simati and her 1-year-old nephew Tyreece Simati will be buried in a single coffin in a cemetery near Drury after a church service in Manukau.
The service was due to be held yesterday but was delayed in the hope Brenda's stepfather Misi Sau Evile and 19-year-old brother Liviston would be well enough to attend.
Both are in Middlemore Hospital with serious injuries while Brenda's mother, Fetu Sau Evile, was released from hospital earlier in the week.
Relative Aveloa Sauvao said the family were coping as well as possible since Tuesday's fatal blaze. They had got through the past couple of days by focusing on plans for the funerals.
Mr Sauvao said the bodies of Brenda's stepsisters, 11-year-old Taua Sau Evile and 8-year-old Mia Sau Evile, have been returned to Christchurch where the girls lived with their mother. It is believed they will be cremated during a service on Monday.
Mr Sauvao said there was a smoke alarm in the family's home but it was not working when the fire - caused by chip oil that was left on the stove - broke out. He now hopes the tragic consequences will remind others about the importance of having smoke alarms.
"I think what's happened now is a quite good example to all of us to install smoke alarms," he said.
Senior Fire Safety Officer Mike McEnaney said all homes needed smoke alarms and pre-planned escape routes so everyone knew how to get out in the worst-case scenario.
"When you get all these plans in place, then hopefully if there is an incident then the consequences can be minor."
Mr McEnaney said creating an escape plan was an easy process that could be done as a family by drawing an outline of your home and marking all the rooms on it. In a different colour mark two ways out of each room - so you know what do if one exit is blocked by smoke or fire - and then practise escaping from those exits.
In multi-storeyed homes it is important people know how to escape from the upper levels - whether by jumping from a window on to a roof or using an escape ladder.
"If you can't get out the window, open it and attract attention to the fact you are inside."
Once outside, Mr McEnaney said everyone should meet at a prearranged point and not re-enter the burning building, even if someone was missing.
He said that for escape plans to work well, all homes needed to have working smoke alarms that would give occupants early warning of a fire.
"People say, 'Oh, I will know if there is a fire', but you won't. The smoke will kill you long before you know there's a fire, that's why you need an alarm to alert you."
To avoid alarms going off all the time do not put them in the kitchen or outside the bathroom as the cooking or steam can set them off. Instead install them in all living and sleeping areas.
The Fire Service is happy to visit people in their homes and help design escape plans and install smoke alarms. Contact your nearest fire station or visit www3.fire.org.nz where there is fire safety advice.
Staying safe
* Make sure there are working smoke alarms in all living and sleeping areas.
* Have an escape plan with clearly marked routes that everyone in the house knows and has practised. Meet at a designated point outside.
* Keep keys in deadbolts so you can easily open doors and windows in the dark.
* In a fire get down low and crawl out of the house to avoid the smoke. Shut doors as you go to help slow the spread of the fire.
* If your home is multi-storeyed make sure you know how to escape from the upper floors. Consider buying an escape ladder so you can climb down from a high window or roof.
* If trapped in a room put something across the bottom of the door - like clothes or bedding - so the smoke can't come in. Try and escape out a window or yell for help so people know you are inside.
* Never re-enter a burning building. If someone isn't at the meeting point tell the Fire Service straight away.
