Desperate people are living in garages and sleepouts - they're putting their lives at risk

Friday, 5 July 2019

FENZ Fire investigator Bruce Irvine talks about the dangers of living in a garage.

Desperate people staying in uninhabitable garages and sleepouts are putting themselves at risk of large fines or worse – death.

According to Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) data, there have been 343 fires in garages, sleepouts and tents across the country over the last two years.

Fenz risk management national advisor Peter Gallagher said landlords who did not meet their obligations under the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) – including installing smoke alarms and insulation – were liable for fines of up to $4000.

The garage Steven Ian Cameron was living in when he died back in April 2017.

Tenants who did not meet their obligations – including replacing any flat smoke alarm batteries – could be fined up to $3000.

**READ MORE:

A dark and dingy Christchurch garage with uncovered concrete floors and walls, a mattress, some shelves and a small door with a gaping hole underneath, which was listed for rent on Facebook Marketplace.

* Bleak, cold Christchurch garage advertised for $120 a week - bed included

A cold and dark garage in Christchurch listed for rent for $120 a week is another example of how some people try to take advantage of vulnerable renters, tenant advocates say. (First published June 2019)

* Some landlords could miss insulation deadline as winter sets in for tenants

* Landlord 'ignorant of requirements of residential tenancies'**

Tenants Protection Association (TPA) manager Penny Arthur earlier said she was told of a property for rent in Christchurch that did not meet legal requirements, usually sleepouts and garages, at least once a week.

It was an all too common example of people 'preying on the vulnerability of tenants', she said.

Fire investigator Bruce Irvine says the high number of garage and sleepout fires highlights the fact they are not spaces fit for living in.

Christchurch City Council head of building consenting Robert Wright said 316 garages and 48 sleepouts were given consent to be built in Christchurch between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019.

In June, Stuff visited a cold, bleak, concrete Christchurch garage that had been advertised online as a room to rent for $120 a week, including power, a bed and use of the facilities in the house.

A fire ripped through a garage on Erica St, Papanui, in January 2019.

After viewing the property, Stuff found the garage did not meet the legal requirements as a habitable space.

Property manager Shona Saunders said at the time that she was unaware the tenants were subletting it.

After being made aware of the situation, she gave the tenants 48 hours notice that she would be inspecting the property.

'We visited the property and the bed was removed and the garage was back to [its] original state … so [the tenant] realised it was a silly judgement error.

'[The tenant] was very much well informed that was not to happen … and he acknowledged it and he was issued a breach notice for it.'

Saunders said if any evidence was found of people living in the garage she would take the tenants to the Tenancy Tribunal and have their tenancy terminated.

Fire investigator Bruce Irvine said the high number of garage and sleepout fires highlighted the fact they were not spaces fit for living in.

'They are places where people work, they're not designed for a place for people to sleep.

'For people sleeping in garages it is essential they have working smoke alarms within the garage. You must be covered by a smoke alarm when you're asleep – it's your eyes and ears and your nose.'

He said most garage and sleepout fires were started accidentally, and mostly by overloading plugs and electrical systems.

The lack of doors to escape through and large amounts of fuels and other combustible material around were other common hazards, Irvine said.

In April 2017, Steven Ian Cameron, 50, died when garage he was living in on Mackenzie Ave went up in flames.

Irvine was the investigator called to examine the garage following the blaze. He found several hazards in the garage that were not 'adequately managed' had led to Cameron's 'tragic death'.

Stuff understands the hazards included overloaded plugs and several utensils used for cooking.

'Recent deaths are a cause of people not really understanding what the risks are. Fenz looks at how we can help and educate people to live safe … and to understand the risks of where they are living,' Irvine said.

'We often see tragic outcomes that we know are avoidable and that affects us as firefighters and … as fire investigators.

'Time and time again we try and sell the same message … these aren't hard messages to save peoples lives.'

Photoelectric smoke alarms – which are more effective at detecting slow smouldering fires – should be installed within 3 metres of each bedroom door, or in every room where a person sleeps.

* An earlier version of this story said 19 people had died in sleepout, garage and tent fires in the last two years. The figure relates to all fatal fires, not just sleepout, garage and tent fires.