A flaming dryer, a mattress on fire and a pot of hot oil are all things people in Dunedin have been burned by while attempting to throw them out of their homes, firefighters warn.
In recent weeks, a spate of people have been badly burned in house fires and fire-related incidents after re-entering burning buildings or when attempting to move burning household objects outside.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Otago risk-reduction adviser Matt Jones said each incident ended badly, and each one had the potential to have ended in tragedy.
"They tried to get [a household object] outside and they went back in a few times to do that ... and ended up severely burnt.
"In another instance, someone tried to remove an object that was on fire — same thing happened, burnt again."
A person then attempted to pick up and remove the mattress from the house three times.
"This put themselves and others in danger, not only from the fire, but the toxic smoke being emitted," Mr Jones said.
To make matters worse, there were no working smoke alarms in the property and the one person inside was asleep at the time.
Mr Jones said by chance, the person attempting to remove the mattress had arrived home before the fire became completely out of control.
"It was only through sheer luck that we weren’t attending a fatal fire at that property.
"If a fire is bigger than a football, then you can’t put it out... You must get out and stay out."
He said people should have smoke alarms in every room of the house, and interconnected alarms were better than standard smoke alarms.
Mr Jones said the smoke that came off burning objects could be highly carcinogenic and could cause people a lot of grief.
The smoke made it easier for people to be overcome and become incapacitated in their own homes, and then firefighters would need to enter to track people down.
"It’s always a risk for us going into a fire, [but] there is more risk when we’re trying to locate people in a fire as well," he said.
He warned people not to underestimate how fast a fire could double in size.
"The toxic smoke that comes off burning combustibles in a house and off our furnishings is very, very toxic to you ... you’ll be overcome really quickly and get disorientated in your own home.
"Your life is worth more than some of those possessions in there. They can be replaced, but you can’t."
