Queenstown woman arrived home to wall of flames in her bedroom

Tuesday, 27 August 2019

The upstairs lounge, kitchen and bedroom of the Fernhill home was completely destroyed by an early morning fire.

A Queenstown hospitality worker arrived home after 4am to a wall of flames in her bedroom.

'I called the fire brigade, woke my flatmates and went back up with the fire extinguisher,' the woman, who did not want to be named, said after the fire happened on Tuesday.

'I tried to put it out but it made no difference.

A home in the Queenstown suburb of Fernhill was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

'From that time until the firefighters started using hoses we just watched as the windows exploded and it spread really quickly.'

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The fire started in a bedroom and destroyed much of the building.

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Firefighters fought the house fire early Tuesday.

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The woman, her flatmate and a friend were treated for smoke inhalation but felt lucky no-one had been more seriously hurt.

Another flatmate was not at home.

The flatmate and friend who were downstairs had been out celebrating.

They were drunk, asleep and did not wake up when the fire alarm went off, she said.

The batteries in the upstairs smoke alarm had expired about three days earlier and she had meant to buy replacements.

The woman had lost everything in the two-storey house she rents and was desperately looking for David – one of two pet cats – who had not been seen since the fire.

She had recently done up the kitchen and living room.

'We were loving it … but it's just stuff at the end of the day.

'I've got a few grand saved up so I'll just use that to start again.'

She did not have insurance.

There did not appear to be any damage to an adjoining unit, she said.

Four fire engines attended the fire in Arawata Tce, Fernhill, about 4.40am on Tuesday, Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman Jill Higgison said.

A fire investigator would go to the house to determine what caused the blaze.

St John spokesman Gerard Campbell said three people had minor injuries from smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene.

The fire was contained about 5.30am, but crews remained at the scene dampening down hotspots for several more hours.

There was no threat to any other properties.