13 Oct 2012

Woman lucky to escape house fire

4:40 pm on 13 October 2012

The Fire Service says a woman was lucky to survive a house fire in a remote area north of Port Chalmers, Dunedin, early on Saturday morning, because the house had no smoke alarms.

Investigator Barry Gibson says she woke to find the room filled with smoke and got out before calling the Fire Service on her cellphone at about 3.11am.

He said the woman is extremely lucky to have woken, because the house is in a remote area, and it's unlikely anyone else could have raised the alarm.

She was treated for smoke inhalation by St John Ambulance.

The house at Purakaunui was well ablaze when the Fire Service arrived. Five crews were needed to bring the fire under control.

The kitchen and living area were badly damaged and the rest of the house has smoke and heat damage.