Father crawled inside burning house in desperate bid to save children trapped inside

Wednesday, 15 July 2020

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

More than $50,000 has been raised in less than a day for a family who lost two children in a Christchurch house fire.

A father could be heard screaming “my baby’s inside”, moments before crawling into the burning house in a desperate bid to save his 9-month-old daughter and another child trapped inside.

Fire crews were called to the blaze, on Vivian St in the Christchurch suburb of Burwood, at 10.45pm on Tuesday, a Fire and Emergency (Fenz) spokesman said.

Brayden, aged 8, died in the house fire on Vivian St, Burwood.

A Givelittle page names the 9-month-old as Arianna, and the 8-year-old boy as Brayden. The page, created by Brayden's aunt, Ashley Looyer, had already raised more than $50,000 by 7.30pm on Wednesday.

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Arianna, who was only 9 months old, was found dead in her bedroom.

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The children's mother has given Stuff permission to use their photos.

Looyer said she set up the page to help the family financially following the tragic blaze.

“Your donations will help the family of Brayden (8-year-old) and Arianna (9-month-old) cover funeral costs and help them get back on their feet without the financial burden that will accompany this horrific loss,” she said.

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

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Fenz assistant area commander Mike Bowden said firefighters rescued the 8-year-old boy from the house, but he died soon after.

He had been found in the doorway outside the bedroom where his baby sister was found dead. That room had suffered the “most fire intensity”, Bowden said.

Bowden said the fire that ripped through the room was “unsurvivable”.

Lynn Baughan was at the scene of a Christchurch house fire where two children died on Vivian St, Burwood, on Tuesday night.

Smoke alarms were installed in the house, which helped the father and two other children survive the blaze, he said.

“It’s traumatic, absolutely traumatic,” Canterbury metro area commander Superintendent Lane Todd said.

Neighbour Lynn Baughan was in bed when she heard children and a man screaming.

“We came out and looked out the sliding door and saw thick black smoke, [so I] ran through the gate and by time I got there, two of the children got out, thankfully.

Firefighters rescued an 8-year-old boy from the burning house but he later died, while a 9-month-old baby was found dead in a bedroom, NZ fire assistant area commander Mike Bowden says.

“The [father] was hysterical, as you would be.”

The man wanted to go back inside the burning house to see if there was anything he could do, she said. She went with him.

“I’d rather go in with him and be able to get him out, so we did that and it was just ablaze and … it was just bloody awful.

“We went in on our knees and had a look around, smoke and fire was everywhere. I told him we had to get out, it wasn’t safe.

“I felt like I had to go in there, so he had the knowledge he had at least tried. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.”

She did not know the family, who had only recently moved in.

“I wish the family all the best, it’s a hell of a time for them.'

Fire engulfed the house on Vivian St, Christchurch.

Neighbours Matt and Theresa Fitzsimmons were in bed watching television when they heard banging next door. They muted the TV and looked outside to see their neighbours’ windows were bright orange and heard people screaming.

Matt Fitzsimmons ran outside in his dressing gown and grabbed his garden hose.

“The windows were all bright and I ran over to the fence and started hosing over the fence, but I couldn't really work out what I was hosing, so I jumped on top of my truck and I could see the smoke, a corner of the window had popped out and the smoke was pissing out of it.

“I hosed the whole side of the house, but as soon as the hose hit the windows you could just hear crashing and smashing.”

Corey Dunnill says he cannot get the screaming out of his head after a fatal fire next door.

While trying to put the fire out he heard the father yelling: “Help, my baby's inside.”

“The sound, the kids, the flames, the roar, the glass, the guy screaming out my baby … I was seeing everything firsthand, it’s just something I never thought I would ever have to deal with.”

He later saw firefighters take the 8-year-old boy out of the house.

“You could just see it was too late,” Matt Fitzsimmons recalled.

Theresa Fitzsimmons said her own 8-year-old son often played with the children next door.

“When we moved here [in October], we came from out of town and our kids didn't have neighbours to play with.

“And then we moved in here and it was like your 90s neighbourhood where all the kids were out in the street playing and stuff. I just feel for her, I feel for the other kids, I just wouldn’t wish this on anybody.'

On Wednesday morning, police and fire investigators were working to establish how the fire started.

She said she spent most of night vomiting with nerves from the ordeal.

“I got both my kids, put them into bed together at the other end of the house and went in there about a million times last night checking that they were OK. If we look outside our window all we see is the front room where that baby was.”

Another neighbour took the two children to her house and gave them breakfast.

St John spokesman Gerard Campbell said two people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries.

Another neighbour, Corey Dunnill, 22, said he “can't get the screaming out of his head”.

He first mistook the screaming to be coming from the television, before running outside and seeing smoke and flames from the house over the fence. Out of “panic” he also grabbed a hose and tried to douse the flames from over the fence.

Dunnill saw one of the children who perished being taken out of the house, something he wishes he had not seen.

“I can’t get it out of my head [and] I can’t get the screaming out of my head. It's just devastating … hard to comprehend.”

Two children died in the blaze. The others in the home, including at least one other child, managed to escape.

Another resident said her son had been asleep in the sleepout when he heard screaming and ran inside to wake her.

“There were flames everywhere. We tried to do what we could, but it wasn’t much help.”

She said she saw firefighters take a young boy out of the house.

“It’s just devastating. The wee boy plays with our neighbour, it’s terrible. I feel so sorry for the family and those young ones.”

She said it looked like the fire started in a bedroom.

Four fire crews attended the blaze, the first arriving at 10.47pm. The fire was contained enough for firefighters to enter the house at 11.05pm, the Fenz spokesman said.

Police and a fire crew stayed at the scene overnight. The house, a 1960s or 70s bungalow, remained cordoned off on Wednesday.

Fire investigator Bruce Irvine said the investigation would possibly continue on Thursday.

“It’s going to be a full investigation of this tragic event,” he said.

Police were helping Fenz establish the cause of the blaze, a police spokeswoman said.

Vicki-Anne Parker, founder of Christchurch charity NZ Gifts of Love and Strength, has been pulling together care packages for the family after donations from the community began flooding in on Wednesday.

She said the support from the community was overwhelming.

“We’ve asked for vouchers so that the family can actually go and choose what they want for their new home.”

She said one woman came in offering her “last $100 for the month”, while another dropped off a “carload” of food and toys.

“We’ve got a range of vouchers coming in and tins of food and two packages are going out as a pick-me-up,” she said.

“I think it’s amazing, once again Christchurch comes out as a resilient city and wants to help people going through a tragedy, it’s just so heartwarming.”

Anyone wanting to donate can get in contact with NZ Gifts of Love and Strength on Facebook or at Little Explorers preschool at 71 Vivian St in Burwood.