Fire destroys farm house

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 408, 15 October 1991, Page 1

Fire destroys farm house

Fire devastated the home of Alan & Robin Pratt in the early hours of Saturday morning. The 70-80 year old farm house in Mangateitei Road was well ablaze when two Ohakune Volunteer Fire Brigade tenders arrived on the scene after the callout at 3.01am. The cause of the blaze is not known. Mr Pratt said he had planned to go out spot lighting for possums on Friday night so had not lit a fire, but later had decided it was too cold to head out. He said he had gone to bed and woke early in the morning to find the house well alight. He said he knew his way around the house in the dark quite well but found it difficult to find his way out because of dense smoke. None of the house could be saved from the

blaze and almost all of the family's possessions were destroyed apart from the things Mrs Pratt, who was visiting an aunt in Taranaki for the weekend, had with her and their child

Nicola. Mr Pratt said he basically he didn't even have a tooth brush. He said his father and other members of his family were rallying around to get together some gear

for the family to make a start on the road to recovery, and many local friends had offered help, even as early as Saturday morning. A neighbour had offered the family a place

to stay in the short term, said Mr Pratt, and by Monday morning a nearby ski chalet had been offered to them for rent. The house, which the family bought at about Christmas time last year, was insured. Mr Pratt said with the intense heat of the fire, he was concerned that the hay shed would catch alight. He said he was sure it would have also caught fire in a strong south westerly.