Wairoa floods: Electrical fire seriously damages home during storm

Firefighters had to battle flames at one Wairoa home while their emergency service colleagues fought flooding on the other side of town.

Fire investigators from Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) determined the cause of the house fire about 11.40am Wednesday last week to be an accidental electrical fire.

A total of 116 homes, including the homes of five Wairoa firefighters, were inundated that morning when the Wairoa River flooded during the storm that hit the East Coast.

Pictures show much of the front half of the Achilles St property, which neighbours State Highway 2, was blackened by smoke and fire, with scorch marks visible at parts of the front exterior cladding.

Nuhaka chief fire officer Denal Meihana said the fire was centred in the kitchen and lounge of the property, while the rest of the home had smoke damage.

He said three fire appliances attended, two trucks from Wairoa and one relief truck from Hastings, and the fire was under control in between 30 and 40 minutes.

“There was no one at the home at the time,” Meihana said.

Firefighters were on the scene for about one hour and 40 minutes according to the Fenz incident report.

Meihana said the homes of five Wairoa-based firefighters were among those flooded that morning.

“Everyone is okay, there is just a lot of work to do to get their homes liveable again.

“Three can remain in their homes and two aren’t able to stay in them at the moment until some work has been done.”

He said extra support staff would likely remain in Wairoa until about Friday this week.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz