Firefighters told 'to get woman out of house'

An advanced paramedic demanded firefighters pull out an elderly woman from a Rangiora house fire after they had pronounced her dead, sources say.

The St John Ambulance officer has raised concerns in a report about the actions of firefighters at the September 20 blaze, but a union official is concerned that the report is not part of the Fire Service inquiry into the incident.

Jean Chaston, 87, died in the fire at the small flat she shared with her husband, Jack, who escaped.

The Fire Service said in an earlier audit that firefighters checked Jean Chaston's vital signs and, finding "no signs of life", retreated when their air supply was running low. The audit said she was left in the house for up to eight minutes before other firefighters carried her out.

An incident report shows the first firefighters arrived at the scene at 9.23pm and entered the flat wearing breathing apparatus. At 9.50pm, firefighters confirmed to the communications centre that Chaston was dead, the report said.

At 10.19pm Chaston was taken to an ambulance, at which time paramedics performed CPR and got a pulse.

A senior firefighter who talked to The Press on the condition of anonymity said the paramedic could see Chaston through a window lying on the floor, and a confrontation between the two emergency services followed.

"He estimated she was about two and a half, three metres in – she wasn't very far inside – and said, `is that her there? Get her out'."

New Zealand Professional Fire Fighters' Union southern branch president Denis Fitzmaurice said two paramedics who attended the fire had written letters that were still sitting on the St John Ambulance chief executive's desk.

He said Fire Service auditors had not interviewed the paramedics.

"The union is concerned that any operational audit is fully open and that all parties are questioned in an appropriate manner," Fitzmaurice said. "We understand two paramedics who attended the incident have not been interviewed by the Fire Service audit team and we find that highly unusual."

New Zealand Fire Service acting national commander Paul McGill urged people not to jump to conclusions regarding the performance of the volunteers.