A damaged phone that was being wirelessly charged was the likely cause of a house fire in a Canterbury town. 

Fire crews from Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade and Burnham Camp were called to the Chris Dr home in Rolleston at 5.07am last Thursday. They were backed up by Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade and Wigram brigade.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said the home was “well ablaze” when firefighters arrived.

FENZ specialist fire investigator Mitchell Jeffery said based on the available evidence gathered during the scene examination, the probable cause of the fire was an electrical failure associated with a damaged phone which was being wirelessly charged.

“The occupant was alerted to the fire by working smoke alarms, which allowed enough time to get out safely,” he said. 

“We encourage people not to charge damaged electronic devices and only use approved chargers.

“Devices should always be charged on a hard, flat surface.” 

Fire crews from Rolleston, Burnham, Lincoln and Wigram responded to the fire. Photo: Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade

Neighbour Sachin Sharma woke up to hear the fire trucks arriving.

He described the scene as “scary” with smoke coming from the house.

It is understood the occupants of the home had only moved in over the past two to three weeks, following the house being sold on July 2.

Sharma has lived in his house for about five years and said the two homes were built at the same time.