Just when things were starting to look up for Craig Andrew, the 23-year-old former Fisher and Paykel employee has been dealt another blow.
Mr Andrew was made redundant last year and has been unable to find a job since.
His recent engagement to be married was a highlight in an otherwise harrowing year, he said.
But just when his outlook was improving, his Maitland St flat in Dunedin was left uninhabitable yesterday morning, after a fire broke out in the second-floor lounge.
Mr Andrew said his flatmate had a friend staying with them in the lounge at the time and he escaped the blaze by "baling out the window".
"I was asleep at the time, and I just heard breaking glass.
"I ran into the lounge and the heat just hit me.
"It was like opening the doors of Hades.
"The room was full of flames.
"I lost my fringe and part of an eyebrow, the heat was that intense."
Mr Andrew shut the door, raced upstairs to his flatmate's smoke-filled bedroom in the attic and dragged him out of bed.
Both escaped without serious injury.
Facial hair was not the only thing Mr Andrew lost in the fire.
Furniture, a desktop computer and his beloved Xbox were destroyed.
Despite the losses, Mr Andrew was upbeat because no-one had been seriously hurt.
A woman on the ground floor escaped unharmed, and his flatmate and friend were taken to Dunedin Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries.
Fire appliances from St Kilda and Dunedin Central attended the blaze, which took about an hour to extinguish.
St Kilda Fire Station officer Pete Douglas praised Mr Andrew for his actions during the fire.
He said closing doors behind him as he left the building helped to contain the blaze.
"Leaving doors open would have contributed to a more serious fire involving other buildings close by."
The flat is about a metre away from a neighbouring house and an apartment building.
Despite the praise, Mr Douglas said the fire was a pertinent reminder that everyone should check their fire alarms to make sure they work.
The flat had a fire alarm, but it failed to warn the occupants because the batteries were dead.
The fire's cause would be investigated, Mr Douglas said.
Mr Andrew said his lack of housing was inconvenient, but it may not be all that bad.
He hoped to move in with his fiancee in the short term while he looked for a new flat.
"I'm homeless unless she takes me in."
