At age 78, Rimu woman Jan Surgenor lost everything last week after a harrowing house fire from which she bravely fought her way outside.
She overcame terrifying danger, fighting through thick choking smoke in the dark.
‘‘She’s a tough lady,’’ son Glen Surgenor said on Thursday.
‘‘To have done what she did is amazing. The fire investigators simply couldn’t believe that she got out of it. When I got there she was black.’’
He said she tried to ring 111 but connection had been lost.
‘‘She had the mindset to put her nightie over her face and breathe into that. ‘‘In the dark and in the smoke with no visibility and trying to breathe, she found a way out.’’
She then got in her car, drove to the end of the road and tooted the horn to raise the alarm. Neighbours were roused by a sequence of explosions coming from the family home where Mrs Surgenor had lived for more than 60 years.
Years of family history had been lost.
‘‘Heirlooms, treasures, photographs, albums all gone. It’s a tough pill but the main treasure is mum - we got to keep her,’’ Mr Surgenor said.
She was being looked after by family, he said.
A fire officer said he believed the fire may have started in a wall.
- By Janna Sherman of the Hokitika Guardian
