HAMILTON Police have been investigating the circumstances of a house fire on Coleraine Road, Hamilton, on Sunday night, where thankfully all residents were evacuated safely.
The fire was said to have occurred at a residence opposite Curly’s Pizza where Hamilton Police and emergency services attended the scene at about 10.20pm.
It was confirmed by Hamilton Police that the house was engulfed by the flames, and contained a family of five including three children, who fortunately were all able to escape safely and were taken to Hamilton Hospital for observation.
Hamilton CFA captain, Malcolm Anderson said members from the Hamilton, North Hamilton and Coleraine brigades attended the scene on Sunday night.
“We were called in a bit after 10 o’clock and (the house) was well alight when we got on the scene,” he said.
“Initially, it was threatening neighbouring residencies due to the wind and intensity of fire, but the crew did an excellent job to contain it to the one house given the conditions.”
“We all worked to put the fire out … brigade was on scene through to 4.30am this (Monday) morning.”
Curly’s Pizza owner, Samantha Lang was one of the first members of the community to see the house burning across from the shop and responded immediately.
“One of my staff members could smell (the house) burning,” she said.
“Once we discovered it we ran over and we could hear people yelling out, ‘help’”
Ms Lang said she called out to the residents to make sure they had all been evacuated before returning to the shop to check that the authorities had been notified.
One nearby resident, Mark Davis assisted Ms Lang in evacuating residents from neighbouring houses by making sure they were aware of the fire and safe.
“Eventually, the smoke and heat got a bit too much for us, so we had jump back across the road and then the fire brigade turned up,” Ms Lang said.
“It was pretty intense – there were explosions coming from the house and everything.”
In the meantime, Curly’s Pizza has said they will be offering free meals to the family affected and have been looking to set up a GoFundMe page to support the family after losing their home.
The investigation remains ongoing concerning the cause of the fire.
