On July 15, at 7.22pm, emergency services were called to a house in Cromer St, Balclutha, that was quickly going up in flames.
Two crews from Balclutha and one from Kaitangata rushed to the scene and were at the address by 7.29pm.
In documents released to the Otago Daily Times, the cause of the blaze was listed as hot ash that was carelessly disposed of.
The fire began in the lounge and engulfed the three-bedroom home.
At the scene, it took a while for firefighters to determine whether the occupants were inside the home. However, it was discovered they had managed to get out.
At the time, Balclutha fire chief Jason Lyall said a member of his crew had driven past the blaze on his way home and quickly alerted the Kaitangata brigade to also turn out.
‘‘As a result, we’ve had a good combined crew on scene very quickly and [have] been able to prevent damage to neighbouring property,’’ he said.
‘‘The house was fully involved when we arrived and we had maybe 25 firefighters working to put it out at the peak.’’
He said emergency personnel left the scene about 10.30pm.
A fire investigator went to the scene the day after the blaze.
