First-hand chance to feel the horror of fire

TE AWAMUTU firefighters revisit Grant Townley’s burnt out Cambridge Road home to prepare it for the public open day this weekend. 066081AD

By Dean Taylor

It was six months ago to the day that former Cambridge Road resident Grant Townley lost his home to fire. Mr Townley was woken by his dog Sam in the early hours of the morning and thought the sounds of crashing and banging was a burglar.

He quickly realised his house was well on fire when he opened the door to the kitchen and was engulfed in thick, black smoke. Mr Townley headed back to his front bedroom, threw some clothes off his bed out of the window, and followed them.

He watched helplessly as the Te Awamutu Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived and brought the blaze under control - too late to save the older cottage style home.

The cottage has stood as it was left that day until now when it will be opened to the public as a graphic display of what fire can do.

In Mr Townley’s case he believed he had smoke alarms as part of the alarm system, but they had been inadvertently disabled so he was not given any early warning of the fire. Te Awamutu firefighters say early warning is key to survival and in Mr Townley’s case he was lucky he was saved by his dog. It is this message they will try to get through on Saturday.

OPEN DAY

The cottage will be open to the public on Saturday from 10am until 2pm. The brigade will have a sausage sizzle on the day and will be available to answer whatever questions the public has. Visitors can have a good look at what fire does and talk to firefighters about what happened and how they can protect their homes and families.

Organiser Spence Brockbank says the most graphic display of how quickly fire can cause damage and mayhem will come when the brigade burns the remains of the house after the open day.

Weather permitting, the burn will take place about 3pm Saturday. The public will be able to get as close as safely possible under Fire Brigade supervision and the house will be lit. If it is too wet or windy on Saturday the burn will take place Sunday.