Care and diligence are needed after two separate fires gutted two houses in Clutha and Central Otago in the past week, a fire investigator says.
Specialist fire investigator Barry Gibson, of Dunedin, said an electric blanket caused a fire in Milton last Friday and hot ashes sparked a blaze in Millers Flat on Sunday.
Two appliances from Milton and a water tanker from Balclutha were called to the blaze on Toko Mouth Rd about 9.30pm last Friday. Fifteen firefighters fought the flames but could not save the house. The occupants were away.
Mr Gibson said an electric blanket caught fire, the blaze soon spreading to the bedroom and the rest of the house.
The fire was made worse by an lpg cylinder in a heater igniting, he said.
"Electric blankets should not be left on while you're not home and they should not be left on while sleeping. They create smoky fires, as the flames burn down into mattresses and create a lot of smoke."
Last Sunday night a house in Millers Flat was left uninhabitable after hot ashes in a wheelie bin sparked a blaze that took firefighters two and a-half hours to control.
That followed a similar incident at a house in Ranfurly three days earlier when the occupants were woken by their smoke alarms to find a bucket of ash left outside had ignited and set fire to the porch and the side of the house.
