November 22, 2008

A man suffered serious burns and a Hamilton couple were left homeless when fire destroyed their Chartwell home yesterday.
Ewen and Robyn Tonar could do nothing but console each other as their brick Brookview Court home of 15 years went up in flames.
Hamilton fire safety officer Dave Jenkins confirmed the fire started after the pilot light on the home's gas hot-water cylinder was not turned off before a Hamilton floor sanding company began using a highly flammable solvent to remove linoleum flooring. One of the company's labourers was taken to Waikato Hospital with suspected third- degree burns to his legs.
Mrs Tonar, who escaped injury, said one worker was in the kitchen and the other was in the laundry when the explosion occurred.
'They were both scraping off the vinyl using this solvent . . . The guy in the laundry must have been using this solvent because (flames) have gone straight up and burnt his legs and he screamed.'
Neighbour and firefighter David Beanland -- badly injured in the coolstore fire at Tamahere in April -- was one of the first on the scene and was quick to make sure those in the house all escaped safely.
'I was just making a coffee and I heard a smoke alarm going off. I looked out the window and there was all this smoke pouring out of the house,' he said.
Another neighbour was cleaning her windows, looking out on to the Tonars' house, and suddenly noticed flames.
'There was this huge bang and then I just saw all these flames coming straight up through the roof.'
The force of the fire was so strong all of the home's windows exploded on to the property's lawn.
A clearly distraught and shocked Mr Tonar arrived home about 15 minutes after the 10.40am fire, to find the street bustling with firefighters and curious onlookers.
Choking back tears, Mr Tonar -- an avid hot-air balloonist and air space officer for the New Zealand Hang Gliding Association -- said he felt helpless.
'We've lost a lifetime of irreplaceable family items and the [hang gliding] books and records are all gone. I'm now going to have to inform them (the association) that they've lost the lot.'
The couple stayed at a motel last night but also have family in the city.
The Walkers Floorsanding floor sanding operator, who would not be named, was reluctant to comment about what happened.
'The fire guys have got an investigation to do . . . there's no sense commenting on what we don't know, but it's certainly a very tragic event for everybody.'
Mr Jenkins said fires of this type were common because although tradesmen remembered to turn off the electricity, they often forgot to turn off the gas.