Having working fire alarms in a Hampstead residence this week made all the difference, Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Jeff Marshall says.

The alarm was raised at 6.30pm on Sunday. 

"The smoke alarms alerted the elderly owner and the neighbours that something was wrong.” 

The neighbours called 111 and reported smoke coming from the house.” 

Mashall said the fire was “reasonably involved” when firefighters arrived, but was still contained to the annex attached to the house.

"Our crew members went in to the small room wearing breathing apparatus and got it under control fairly quickly.” 

Marshall said the fire caused considerable damage to the small room and reasonable smoke damage to the rest of the house. 

"The house would be livable how it is, but you really wouldn’t want to live there until it’s had a good clean up”. 

“The cause of the fire is being investigated.” 

Marshall stressed having working smoke alarms is vital in any residence. 

"With the long weekend coming up now is the perfect time to test smoke alarms to make sure they are working.” 

A spokesperson for Hato Hone St John was notified at 7.01pm and responded with one ambulance.

"One patient was assessed and treated at the scene.”

Meanwhile, at Elgin, near Ashburton, a male driver was beyond lucky to have walked away from an accident on Sunday. 

Travelling down Seafield Rd just before 7am, it appears a "lack of concentration” may have cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

“The car slid across to the other side of the road and hit the power pole,” Marshall said.

"Thankfully, the car hit the pole with the back of the car first and not the driver’s door.” 

The force of the collision ripped off the drivers door and pulled the engine and front of the car away from the car body.

"Looking at the car you would think we used the jaws of life on it. We didn’t - the driver was out of the vehicle when we got there.” 

"Sometimes there is only a quarter to a half of a second between walking away and not. This was one of those times.” 

“The driver was very very, very, very lucky,” he said. 

A spokesperson from EA Networks said they were notified about the collision at 7am on Sunday. 

“Our crew isolated the power supply and secured the site before replacing the pole’s crossarm and straightening the pole,” they said.

Hato Hone St John responded with one ambulance.

"One patient was assessed at the scene and was transported to Ashburton Hospital in a moderate condition,” a spokesperson said 

"Police are making enquiries into the circumstances of the crash,” a police spokesperson said.