Soccer fans save neighbours from fire

Fire treated as suspicious

BY MATT CALMAN AND KELLY BURNS

LATEST: The occupants and driver of a passing taxi rushed to wake sleeping residents as fire ripped through a Lower Hutt house and quickly spread to neighbouring properties.

One house was destroyed and another four badly damaged in the blaze, which reached three storeys into the air and was described as a "sheet of flames".

It started in an empty Cornwall St house about 1.30am yesterday and within minutes – fanned by strong winds – spread to three Cornwall St flats and a Knights Rd property.

Investigators have confirmed the blaze was deliberately lit.

John Barron, his wife Liz, their daughter Dione and her partner Damon Newton were travelling home after celebrating the All Whites' win over Bahrain whenthey noticed smoke pouring across Knights Rd.

They called 111 and shouted and banged on doors, including those of 81-year-old Kathleen Sheehan and an elderly wheelchair-bound woman.

Yesterday, Mrs Sheehan praised her rescuers for saving her life. "There's no doubt about it. They just banged and banged and screamed at the front door, `Fire. Get out. Get out'."

The taxi driver, named only as Vinod, honked his car's horn and shouted to wake residents.

Dione Barron said that, by the time the taxi stopped, the house where the fire started was "well up" and Mrs Sheehan's house was close to catching fire.

Knights Rd resident Merle Hiscock, whose home was spared, feared her property would also be engulfed. "It was just a sheet of flames."

Gavin Murphy, owner of the house where the fire started, returned from a family gathering in Rotorua to find it in ruins.

The Murphy family was planning to move into the 80-year-old home by Christmas, after spending two years working on a $500,000 renovation.

"She's a bit of a shocker," Mr Murphy said. "We're just gutted obviously. It's such a waste."

The family had seen photographs of the house before they arrived, but Mr Murphy's wife, Vanessa, said nothing could have prepared them for seeing the destruction.

"We've lost our dreams. We had the best laid plans, and now there's nothing left."

Mr Murphy said the family would rebuild the house, and were thankful no-one was hurt. "The poor old lady next door [Mrs Sheehan] has lost her house. She only walked out with the clothing on her back. It easily could have been four people dead."

Detective Sergeant Mike Sears praised emergency staff and rescuers for getting sleeping residents out of their homes.

"Clearly there were acts of bravery. It is amazing that no-one was physically harmed. We're thankful that no-one was injured or dead."

Mr Sears said the crime was a serious one and a team of investigators was working to solve it.

"This is a very serious matter that exposed a number of people to great harm and caused considerable damage," he said. "We are treating this with utmost urgency."

Fire Service senior station officer Rob Sullivan said it took more than an hour for firefighters to control the blaze. "We were fighting horrendous winds and a very severe fire. It was quite dramatic."

 

Mrs Sheehan salvaged items from her home yesterday. Apart from a few personal items, such as her late husband's war medals, she had lost everything, but remained positive.

"Life goes on. I've lived a long time and I'm still here to see it. I'm a very, very fortunate person. I've got six wonderful children. What more could you want?"

All the homes were thought to be insured.

Also yesterday, an elderly Blenheim man died in a house fire about 4am. Firefighters pulled him out but he had been overcome by smoke.

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News