January 12, 2009

Former Race Relations conciliator Gregory Fortuin arrived home from overseas last night to a pile of charred rubble where his family home of 20 years once stood.
The fire, which destroyed the three-storey clifftop home in The Anchorage in Whitby in the early hours of Saturday morning, was so fierce that it blew out the windows of the house next door.
'I'm devastated, but also extremely grateful that everybody in my family is safe,' Mr Fortuin said.
He shares the house with a son, Jonathan, who was in Wellington at the time of the fire. 'It's just been a family home. There's so much irreplaceable stuff, but right now I'm just trying to process it.'
Mr Fortuin's daughter, Carmen Taylor, 33, who lives in nearby Camborne, was called by a neighbour and rushed to the fire.
'It was pretty scary. Everyone's in a bit of shock.'
Porirua fire service senior station officer Trevor Sheehan said no one was home at the time, but it was believed Mr Fortuin's son was looking after the house while his parents were on holiday.
Emergency services were alerted at 2.10am by numerous calls to 111.
Eight fire engines raced to the scene but the house was already well alight.
'It lit up the night sky from more than two kilometres away.'
The fire was brought under control within two hours but the last fire engine did not leave till 12 hours later, as firefighters worked to dampen down the embers.
Mr Sheehan said firefighters had fought to stop flames spreading to a neighbouring property.
'Their windows melted in the heat . . . if it had penetrated the exterior, we could have had another disaster on our hands.'
Yesterday, demolition contractors bulldozed the Fortuins' house for safety reasons on the orders of the fire service. 'The debris hanging off the bank was threatening neighbours' houses,' Mr Sheehan said.
The cause of the fire was not yet known. 'It's still under investigation. It may be it would not have made any difference if someone had been home.'
Mr Fortuin, who is also South Africa's honorary consul to New Zealand, moved here in 1991.