Candle sets Wellington flat alight after power cut off

CRAIG SIMCOX / The Dominion Post

LUCKY ESCAPE: Central Parks flats resident Marigold Kani lives two floors above the flat that caught fire.

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The tenant of a council flat destroyed by fire was using candles because he could not afford to pay power bills.

Firefighters went to the Central Park flats in Nairn St, Wellington, soon after 1am yesterday after flames exploded out a second-floor window and thick smoke filled a corridor.

Although some of the 100 tenants in the building were evacuated quickly, firefighters had to kick in at least 16 doors and coax some residents out.

Senior station officer John Mansford said the fire started when a candle fell over, destroying the flat and causing smoke damage to other parts of the building. "We were trying to contain the fire and there were still people up there at the fire face. One guy said he wanted to stay and watch his video."

The tenant – who was using candles because his power had been disconnected – ran downstairs and threw stones at neighbours' windows in an attempt to wake them.

Marigold Kani, who lives two floors above the flat, woke when she heard a fire alarm and smelled smoke coming in under her door. She grabbed her bank cards and a duvet and ran down the stairs, banging on neighbours' doors as she went.

The tenant, in his 40s, had used candles because he could not afford to pay power bills, she said. "He was trying to put it [the fire] out. He used everything in the fire extinguisher on a corner but the whole wall was aflame. It got out of control and he decided to run."

Another resident praised the efforts of a group of Somali men who grabbed hoses and evacuated elderly tenants.

One woman, in her 70s, walked out of her door into thick clouds of smoke, he said.

"You could hear her coughing but you couldn't see her. If those Somali boys hadn't been in there, no-one would have known she was there.

"The smoke was so thick you couldn't see your hands, it was really quite freaky."

A woman was taken to Wellington Hospital's emergency department suffering smoke inhalation and several other residents were treated at the scene.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the tenant was a beneficiary and power had been disconnected. It was rare for council tenants to be without electricity, he said.

The council would speak to Social Development Ministry officials to ensure tenants without power were reconnected and had enough financial support.

The fire service is also looking into the evacuation procedures for the building.

The Wellington People's Centre co-ordinator for benefit rights services, Kay Brereton, said that as power prices had gone up people struggled to pay and often resorted to using candles when power was cut off. "This is much more common than people are aware of."

She believed power companies should alert the council and Work and Income if they were disconnecting flats, so they could support affected tenants.

Work and Income said a special needs grant or an advanced benefit payment could be arranged for people unable to pay electricity bills.

In August, 5373 of these payments for electricity, gas and water were made totalling more than $2 million. The average amount was $376. This jumped from 3349 and $1.1m last August when the average payment was $331.