By Akula Sharma of 
Te Kira whānau are having to live in vans after their family home of 28 years was destroyed in a fire on 28 September. Photo: NZ Herald/Akula Sharma
A whānau of nine who lost their family home of 28 years in a devastating fire are camping outside and sleeping in vans because of a lack of emergency accommodation in Tairāwhiti.
The Te Kira family homestead in Muriwai, south of Gisborne, was destroyed in a large blaze on 28 September, leaving the family without a roof over their heads.
Judah Te Kira told the Herald he was watching television when he felt sudden heat. He followed it to the back of the house where flames and smoke were coming out of the door.
"I thought the room was on fire, so I ran from the other side to look at the back of the house. The fire was coming from the roof ... then the roof collapsed.
"My partner was also home at the time. She was outside doing washing, it all happened so fast we did not even notice how big the fire was."
Te Kira grabbed the hose and tried to fight the inferno.
"I yelled to my neighbours to call the fire [and emergency] ... Electricity went out and then the water pump stopped working. We then used a couple of buckets of water but it was little help," he said.
"The fire was huge within minutes. We just grabbed what we could and ran outside."
Firefighters from Fire and Emergency Tairāwhiti and Manutuke volunteer fire brigade rushed to the blaze.
Tairāwhiti fire station's senior adviser risk reduction Derek Goodwin described it as "full on" and said it took firefighters about 40 minutes to control. Fortunately, all six children and three adults managed to escape unharmed.
"They were very lucky because that day there were not many people inside. We rescued three scared puppies," Goodwin said. "Sadly, we weren't able to save the house."
A whānau home of nine in Muriwai, Gisborne caught fire and burned to the ground two weeks ago. Photo: NZ Herald/Supplied
Now the family are sleeping in makeshift tents - and asking the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to help them to find emergency housing.
According to the MSD website, Kiwis may qualify for emergency housing if they have nowhere to stay over the next week, as well as help replacing essential items after a fire or theft. This support is means tested.
Te Kira said he lost everything and his home. "It is a terrible feeling. Ngāi Tāmanuhiri is helping us rebuild but it's going to be years down the line. We need help now."
His partner, Sarah Reihana, has been engaging with several agencies for support but says it's with little luck.
"It is stressful, we don't even know what we are doing," she said.
"We are living in vans at the moment because one of our brother and sister took us in until social services house us somewhere.
"Ministry of Social Development said there is no housing support available in our region.
"We have had to fight to get the grant just for clothing. They told us because my son, who is 17, and my nephew, who is 19, are working they wouldn't help us [get what we need].
"We have been in a traumatic situation, my son's only young. They would also need clothes to work."
A van which can house two people was loaned to the whānau by a fire station staff. Photo: NZ Herald/Akula Sharma
Karen Bartlett, MSD's regional commissioner for East Coast, confirmed to the Herald that emergency housing was not yet available.
"We referred them to Victim Support, and have provided financial assistance to buy new clothes and replace other essential items lost in the fire," Bartlett said.
"We continue to discuss options for housing support with the whānau. They have told us they all want to live together, but with high demand for a limited supply of accommodation it is challenging to find somewhere which can take up to nine people."
Bartlett said MSD has spoken to several housing suppliers to access what is available.
"We will continue working with the whānau to support their search for suitable accommodation."
Goodwin told the Herald that when fire crews arrived at the property there were no fire hydrants in the area and a limited water supply. "Muriwai marae had sourced 120,000 litres of water through the Provincial Growth Fund which saved us 12 half-hour trips to and from town."
Goodwin said the cause of the fire was yet to be established.
Geordina Rutherford, 68 is worried her mokopuna are having to live without a roof over their heads in cold weather. Photo: NZ Herald/Akula Sharma
Antony Ruru, Fire and Emergency senior adviser community readiness and recovery, said the family had been provided with food and blankets "for immediate relief" and given temporary accommodation.
The home "is unlivable" and everything in it was "damaged", he said.
"They are a musical family, they had a lot of instruments, and they had recently lost their father. It is dangerous to go back to the house, it will need to be knocked down."
Reihana said it had been stressful for the whānau to be displaced all over the coast with little certainty to get a place to stay.
They are running a community concert to raise funds to replace some items they lost. "We have concerns for our tamariki, they can't live in vans in this cold weather," he said.
Geordina Rutherford, 68, the eldest in the whānau, had just returned from Waikato Hospital after suffering a heart attack.
"It was hard to watch our whare burn. I am angry and upset. We have lived in our own whare for 28 years ... all of my mokos grew up there.
"Our initial need is a roof over our heads, my son, his wife and my mokos can't live like this."
- This story first appeared on the New Zealand Herald website.
