Mum and son killed in Fiordland house fire
The house was gutted by the fire. Photo: Toni McDonald
Police have confirmed an 11-year-old boy and his mother died during a house fire in Manapouri yesterday.Police have confirmed an 11-year-old boy and his mother died during a house fire in Manapouri yesterday.
The house was ablaze early in the morning in View St.
Detective Sergeant Mark McCloy, of Invercargill, said this afternoon a couple and a child had been living in the rental house, but the man was away working when the fire took hold.
He said police were satisfied no one else was in the property at the time.
Det Sgt McCloy said the house had been destroyed, and the investigating team had had to use a crane to remove what was left of the roof to allow the scene to be examined.
A first death was announced yesterday and the second this morning.
“A specialist search team has located a second person deceased following a house fire on View St in Manapouri,” Det Sgt McCloy said in a statement.
"The thoughts of everyone involved are with the victims’ whanau, who are being supported at this tragic time," he said.
The news of the initial death yesterday shocked the close-knit community.
Police last night said people also remained unaccounted for, many hours after the two-bedroom home in View St had been razed.
The fire started about 3.40am yesterday and police said this morning they were still treating its cause as unexplained.
Fiordland Community Board chairwoman Diane Holmes said the community was upset.
"They just want to pull together and see what they can do to help," she said.
"It’s very sad. People are just in shock."
Ms Holmes was unsure of the circumstances of the blaze, but said the community was amazing about coming together to look after one another.
"There will be a lot of care," she said.
Fire investigators and Invercargill CIB were at the property for most of the day to piece together what had happened.
Flames engulf a View St house, in Manapouri, early yesterday. PHOTO: MIKE MOLINEUX
Det Sgt McCloy yesterday said police would work alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand to complete a scene examination and inquiries in the coming days.Det Sgt McCloy yesterday said police would work alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand to complete a scene examination and inquiries in the coming days.
The Manapouri Volunteer Fire Brigade had been first on the scene and was soon followed by two engines from Te Anau’s volunteer brigade.
One neighbour said Manapouri’s volunteer siren, located metres from his home, woke him at 3.58am.
"Normally when the siren goes off I go back to sleep, but about 6 to 7 minutes later I heard banging outside.
"Then my bedroom lit up bloody orange."
His bedroom was at the back of his house, but the glow from the fire reflected into it off his neighbour’s windows, he said.
It took him a little while to work out it was not his immediate neighbour’s house on fire.
Firefighters were already battling the blaze when he went to investigate.
"I think there must’ve been gas bottles or something because there were some loud explosions and then smaller explosions like ammunition.
"I don’t know what it was, but it was certainly going off."
Manapouri sits on the fringe of Fiordland’s national park and has about 100 homes.
The neighbourhood has a mix of long-term residents in their homes or rental properties, as well as holiday homes and Airbnb rental properties.
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additional reporting RNZ and Grant Miller