‘It gets hot — super quick’
The speed with which this Marton home was consumed by fire has prompted a warning: Get out fast — and stay out
A Marton couple’s fireravaged home, located about 60 metres from the fire station, is serving as a stark reminder for the community. About 9.20pm on July 4, Michael Hart and Sarah Coleman were parked on the couch watching TV.
When Coleman heard a crackling noise coming from the bedroom she hurried to check it out and saw flames coming from her shoe rack.
By the time the couple had rushed to the kitchen to get a fire extinguisher and water, the flames had tripled in size.
“The smoke was really billowing out of the doorway, and I got maybe a metre and a half away but I couldn’t get any closer,” Hart said.
“The heat was pretty intense.”
The couple grabbed their dog and rushed outside to call the fire department, who later determined the cause of the fire to have been a multibox in one of the bedrooms.
Whanganui firefighter Ben Coll, who was first to arrive at the scene, said the couple did exactly the right thing by leaving the burning building.
“They didn’t muck around trying to save anything, and they were standing in the most obvious place when the truck pulled out.”
Fire and Emergency NZ Manawatū Whanganui assistant district commander Jemal Weston said because the Marton fire station was staffed by volunteers they had to make their way to the station before responding to callouts.
“They’ve all still got to get to the fire station and get their gear on, and drive to the call-out.”
The fire crews arrived at the house within seven minutes but by then fire had consumed the interior.
Weston said this case illustrated just how quickly a fire could take hold in a home.
“The chances of surviving a house fire are not that high. It gets hot superquick, the atmosphere gets irrespirable and life gets lost very easily.
“People are in a heightened state of awareness and panic when they’re watching things burn and their personal possessions, and there are those people who will try to save things.
“We don’t want people to go back in because that creates the potential to be overcome whilst they’re in there.”
Hart and Coleman lost all their belongings but are covered by insurance and their house is likely to be restored.
Hart said it was surreal how quickly it happened.
“That’s the frightening part about it really – you go from sitting on the couch just relaxing, enjoying a series, and suddenly two or three minutes later you’re watching your house burn down.
“I think that’s one thing that stuck out for me, you think it happens to other people but that it won’t happen to you.
“I would encourage people to have a smoke alarm in every bedroom and to refresh your multi-boxes if you have them.”
Coll said the Marton Volunteer Fire Brigade was currently running at half its operational capacity.
Weston said this meant in a team of 32 there were 16 firefighters capable of responding to calls, but this did not factor in their hours of full-time work and the weekends when they might be out of town.
“Life happens for a volunteer which means they might be unable to come; it’s a real balancing act running a volunteer station.
“If we’re light on numbers, it really hits home.”
On August 11, the Marton Volunteer Fire Brigade will run a guided tour of Hart and Coleman’s home alongside its open day to recruit volunteers.
Weston said they needed more volunteer firefighters to better support the community and anyone interested in finding out more about the role should attend the open day.
● Further information on how to join the Marton Volunteer Fire Brigade can be found at fireandemergency.nz/work-orvolunteer-for-us/volunteering. For fire safety tips, visit fireandemergency.nz/ winter-fire-safety.