While van der Slot-Verhoeven smelled smoke the night before, she thought it was from her wood burner.
“When we woke up, we had no idea what was happening,” she said.
Van der Slot-Verhoeven said the wood burner was out and there were no flames, so she could not figure out why the detector was blaring.
That was until she noticed smoke coming out from under her deck. Van der Slot-Verhoeven called 111.
“The absolute[ly] fabulous firefighters from Avalon were there really quickly,” she said.
“Turned out the floor and beams under the fireplace were smouldering.”
Van der Slot-Verhoeven said the fire had already burned through one joist.
“How this all happened is a mystery, as the wood burner was not cracked at the bottom,” she added.
“It was an old fellow, but installed correctly and maintained every year.”
Van der Slot-Verhoeven was concerned that her smoke alarm had not gone off.
“The smouldering was just under our bed basically.
“It could have been so much worse.
“Luckily, our family is safe and sound … a scary night, and quite some material damage, but we can solve that.”
However, Fire and Emergency told RNZ that a smoke alarm would provide a wider coverage of the hazardous products created in a fire.
“While a carbon monoxide detector did provide an early warning in this case, this is rare and we would usually see smoke present even when a fire is smouldering,” Fire and Emergency said.
It recommended people have a smoke alarm in every bedroom, living room and hallway.
Fires increase by 29% during winter
Fire and Emergency said the number of fires related to heating increased by 29% during winter.
“It is important that people keep any flammable objects, like couches, clothes and beds at least a metre from heaters, wood burners and open fires.”
It also recommended having a wood burner checked and serviced regularly, especially older ones, and having the chimney swept every year.
– RNZ