Laundry fire leaves family homeless

Chloe (13), Alyssa (16), Brendon (38) and Savannah (11) Carter in front of their Mulford St house...
Chloe (13), Alyssa (16), Brendon (38) and Savannah (11) Carter in front of their Mulford St house which was extensively damaged by fire yesterday morning. Photo: Gregor Richardson.
A Dunedin family has been left homeless after a fire tore through part of their Concord home, destroying possessions and spewing smoke through the house.

The fire started in the laundry of the Housing New Zealand house in Mulford St about 8.30am yesterday.

Brendon Carter was about to take his two youngest children to the dentist when he heard the sound of ‘‘a waterfall’’ coming from the laundry.

He opened the laundry door to find flames licking up the wall and the washing machine ‘‘caved in’’.

He got his children and the family’s pet bird out of the house and called the Fire Service.

Within minutes, windows were blowing out, flames were emerging from the house and smoke was billowing from the roof.

Mr Carter was dismayed when he inspected the damage afterwards.

"Everything’s gone. Even the curtains have melted off in the lounge and that was at the other end of the house."

His youngest daughter turned 12 in a few  days and he was concerned the smoke and heat could have destroyed her presents.

"I don’t think anything has hit me yet," he said when asked how he was feeling.

But Mr Carter’s face told the story his words could not.  His ashen skin contrasted with the blackened rear of the house and the distant stare reflected the feelings of a man who had lost the house his family called home for almost a decade. The single father said the house did not have contents insurance.

"Pretty much everything is gone by the sounds of it," he said.

The family spent last night at his parents’ place, but he was unsure what lay ahead for him and his three daughters.His parents’ four-bedroom house was already home to seven people, but Mr Carter was philosophical about the situation.

"I will sleep in the kitchen by the food," he said, trying to crack a smile.

His situation was complicated further by the impending arrival of his son, his eldest child, who was finishing a polytechnic course in Timaru. He praised the work of firefighters who arrived minutes after being alerted and did their best to save the house and its contents.

Despite their best efforts, the fire gripped the house in minutes. Windows were darkened by smoke, interiors were melted by the heat and possessions were destroyed.

Senior Station Officer Ben Pitelen, of Lookout Point, said Mr Carter "did all the right things".

Smoke alarms in the house were operational and he got everyone out. The fire was not suspicious and started because of a faulty washing machine.

"It appears the machine seized and the belt kept moving and caused it to overheat," he said.

"It’s not common. But we have struck it before."

Twelve firefighters and three appliances from Lookout Point, St Kilda and Dunedin Central brought the blaze under control in minutes, but it did not take long for fire to damage the interior.

"It sustained about 25% structural damage and the rest of the house is affected by heat and smoke," Mr Pitelen said.

timothy.brown@odt.co.nz

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