'I blame myself because I wasn’t there': Mum's heartbreak after fire kills two of her children

Thursday, 16 July 2020

Two children died in a house fire on Vivian St, Burwood, on Tuesday night.

After getting the last of her four children to sleep, Nicole Mulligan made a late-night dash to the supermarket to ensure they had breakfast for the morning.

An hour later, she returned to find her east Christchurch house on fire and 8-year-old Brayden and baby Arianna had died.

Two of the children escaped the blaze on Vivian St, Burwood, about 10.40pm on Tuesday. Mulligan's partner crawled back into the house to save the others, but was forced to retreat.

Mulligan told Stuff on Thursday that she turned into the street, saw fire and “hoped it wasn’t my house”.

Nicole Mulligan with daughter Arianna, who was tragically killed in a house fire in Christchurch.

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Lucas, left, and his brother Brayden with baby Arianna.

“I lost two babies in one night and I blame myself because I wasn’t there.”

She had gone shopping as soon as her pay landed in her account so the children would have food for breakfast.

Nine-month-old Arianna and 8-year-old Brayden died in a house fire in Christchurch on Tuesday night.

“I was shopping and I should’ve been there … I feel like I could’ve saved them.”

Unable to access the street, she approached the cordon to ask how she could get to her home. When she gave her name, she saw the officer looking at her picture on their phone.

“I started freaking out. I was like, ‘Oh no, it’s mine, isn’t it?'”

A fire investigator at the scene of the house fire on Thursday morning.

Mulligan was told Brayden was in an ambulance.

“I just thought he was hurt, and then she said, ‘I’m sorry, but he’s dead.’ I just screamed. Then she said, ‘Your daughter is still in the house, she didn’t make it.’

Two children died after the blaze on Tuesday night.

“I will always remember those words … it still feels like a nightmare.”

Mulligan suspects a fan heater being used to keep their bedroom warm for Arianna likely caused the fire.

Nicole Mulligan and her family. Her partner, Des Cooke, is pictured holding their daughter Arianna.

Des Cooke, her partner and Arianna’s father, heard the smoke alarm go off while he was in the lounge.

He immediately went to the bedroom and saw red under the door.

“He went to open the bedroom door and this big ball of fire just whacked him into the wall. He said he didn’t even hear her cry, she was already gone. [The fire] came from behind the door, exactly where the heater was.”

Cooke told Mulligan he shook Brayden and yelled at him and his 6-year-old brother, Lucas, to get out. He retrieved Brianna, 2, and went outside. Cooke then realised Brayden was still inside.

He went back in but was quickly overcome by smoke and the lack of visibility.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but the children’s mother suspects a fan heater is to blame.

Brayden was found by firefighters in the hallway outside Arianna’s bedroom. Mulligan said it would not surprise her if he was trying to save his sister.

‘BEAUTIFUL KIDS WITH BEAUTIFUL HEARTS’

Fire engulfed the house on Vivian St, Christchurch, about 9.45pm on Tuesday.

Most of Tuesday afternoon is now a blur to Mulligan. She recalls Brayden going around the house in the evening shortly before bedtime with a small handheld broom scrubbing the wall and people’s feet.

“I was like, ‘That’s not how you clean.’ He said, ‘You’re lucky I’m even cleaning for you, Mum.’”

Once he was in bed, she started feeding Arianna.

Brayden, a pupil at Bishopdale Primary School, was “kind, sweet and funny”, Mulligan said.

Mulligan had a stillbirth at 38 weeks nearly five years ago. Brayden often spoke of how much he missed the baby.

Arianna was “gorgeous” and “had a smile that just lit up my whole heart”. She hadn’t learned to say mum but could say dad.

“She would wake up saying ‘dad’, I would look over and say, ‘Mum, mum, mum.’ She would look at me and smile and say, ‘Dad, dad, dad.’

“They were beautiful kids with beautiful hearts.”

Nearly 48 hours after the fire, Mulligan said she had been unable to eat or sleep. She was struggling to come to terms with what had happened to her children.

“They were my life, they were my everything. My day was about looking after them and now they’re not here for me to look after.”

Brianna was coping like nothing happened, she said while Lucas was struggling with the thought of being left alone.

A Givealittle page created for the family had raised more than $110,000 by 3pm on Thursday.

Mulligan was “extremely grateful” to everyone who donated.

“I thought we were alone in this, having to grieve for our babies. It’s so heartwarming to know that other people actually cared about my babies, that their lives matter to everyone.”