A third house fire in as many weeks has the fire service sounding more warnings as they prepare for their busiest time of year.
The start of winter is a traditionally busy time for house fires and Nelson station officer Darren Shackleton says people need to take precautions.
The warning comes after fire destroyed another home, this time in central Nelson.
The fire started at around 3am on Monday and quickly spread through Kelly Huang and La Per’s St Lawrence St home.
The pair, who only bought the home a month ago, escaped with Per’s mother, Ma Li, who also lives in the home. All three were checked by St John at the scene with Ma Li sent to hospital for further checks.
Darren has attended all three fires and says the first two were started by battery chargers, while the cause of yesterday’s fire hasn’t been determined yet.
He says the number of fires is a concern and people need to check their electric blankets, clean out their chimney flue and dust off heaters before they’re used.
“Fires from those three are a pretty common occurrence unfortunately.” He says they hopefully won’t be busy over the next few weeks but they’re bracing for the worst.
“We cannot stand seeing people losing their homes and so we want people to stay safe, but it can be a busy time for us.”
