Download PDF: Issue 9 - New Zealand Fire Service

Incidents
A push
for safety
By station offi cer Allistair Sadler
Te Atatu Fire Brigade received multiple calls
to a house fi re on the Te Atatu Peninsula,
Waitakere City, Auckland.
14 Issue No. 9
Responding appliances were Te Atatu
661, Te Atatu 6629 lighting unit,
Henderson 657 rescue tender and
Glen Eden 641. On arrival the
brigade found the top fl oor bedrooms
of a two-storey house well involved.
Crews got to work with one high
pressure delivery and had the fire
under control within 10 minutes.
The crew from the lighting unit spoke
to the three teenagers who were in
the house at the time of the fi re and
found that they were all suffering
from mild smoke inhalation. They
were started on oxygen until the
ambulance arrived.
The three said they were downstairs
having breakfast where they could
smell smoke. After checking the
downstairs fl oor they went upstairs
to fi nd the two bedrooms involved in
fi re. At this stage they left the house
and re-entered with a garden hose to
try to control the fire but within
seconds the fire spread to other
rooms, so they left.
A glue gun had been left on under
clothing in the bedroom. The crew
found only one smoke alarm in one
bedroom, and it did not have
batteries. While many members of
the public have embraced our fire
safety work over the years, it seems
sometimes our message falls on deaf
ears.
There are two safety messages from
this one incident – smoke alarms
installed with batteries in all
bedrooms and other areas especially
two storey houses. If you are faced
with a fi re of this size leave and do
not return. Ring the brigade from a
safe place.
Te Atatu brigade has spoken to the
parents, provided smoke alarms and
discussed an escape plan. The brigade
will return once the house has been
rebuilt and the family moves back in,
to cover all areas of safety to help
prevent this happening again.