{"id":138250,"date":"2025-11-16T18:40:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/138250\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T18:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:40:07","slug":"manawatu-house-fire-victims-named-as-community-rallies-around-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/138250\/","title":{"rendered":"Manawat\u016b house fire victims named as community rallies around mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Givealittle page<\/a> titled \u201cA mother\u2019s worst nightmare\u201d has been set up for the mum of the three children, aiming to raise a financial \u201csafety net\u201d for her to grieve. <\/p>\n

The page\u2019s creator wrote that her friend was enduring a \u201cdevastating loss beyond measure\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur dear friend has suffered the sudden, unbearable loss of her three beloved children, her angels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were the light and love of her life, and her entire world has been shattered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the midst of this unimaginable grief, she also lost her home and everything she owned. She is facing the hardest journey possible, stripped of her physical security while navigating the deepest emotional pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

This morning Manawat\u016b Area Commander Inspector Ross Grantham confirmed the ages of the children who died in the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unimaginable,\u201d he told RNZ\u2019s Morning Report.<\/p>\n

There were many details of the investigation he could not say, including whether they believed it was deliberately started or which part of the scene they were looking in for the body of the final victim.<\/p>\n

He also could not say if anyone else was living at the home at the time of the fire.<\/p>\n

Grantham said the first focus of police today would be recovering the final body.<\/p>\n

He said it was a large scene that posed many risks to crews, so it might take some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it will take us some time just to go through and establish exactly what\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that at this stage, they were not seeking information from the public, but urged anyone who thought they might be able to help with the investigation.<\/p>\n

He called the Givealittle page a \u201cfantastic idea\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as a community absolutely have to support the families as best we can.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as a police service have to do a compassionate and thorough investigation to try and solve this inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grantham said they would be putting support systems in place for the officers and first responders who had to deal with the \u201cconfronting scene\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bodies recovered from property<\/p>\n

Yesterday Grantham confirmed four people were killed in the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bodies of two children have been recovered from the scene this evening, and family was present during this time to bless them with karakia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grantham clarified that work is ongoing to find the body of a third child. A \u201cmeticulous and thorough\u201d scene examination will be done today. <\/p>\n

\"FourFour people have died in a house fire in Sanson. November 16, 2025. Photo: RNZ\/Mark Papalii<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family of the deceased are devastated at the loss of their loved ones,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are thankful and very grateful for the support and concern they are receiving from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several locals who knew the family told the Herald they were struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. One called it \u201ccatastrophic\u201d, another \u201cvery upsetting\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police are not seeking anyone in relation to the fire.<\/p>\n

\" A police presence remains at a property in Sanson a day after a house fire killed four people. Photo \/ Mark Papalii, RNZ<\/p>\n

\u201cThis tragedy has shocked not only the local community, but also many people across the country,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur investigators remain determined to find answers to as many questions as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Givealittle page for the mother of the children details it was created to provide her with a financial \u201csafety net\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to provide her with the space and security needed to grieve in solitude, without the added stress of financial ruin,\u201d the creator said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot mend her broken heart, but we can wrap her in community support. Please join us in offering this gift of peace and practical help during her darkest time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal for the Givealittle page was $100,000, and shortly after 5am on Monday more than $94,000 had been raised.<\/p>\n

Field, the children\u2019s father, was described as a local businessman, and records indicate he had owned the property destroyed in the blaze for nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n

Companies Office documents show he has run businesses since 2018.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe fire broke out at a Sanson property and was reported about 2.30pm. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Grantham said yesterday that police were waiting for the completion of the scene examination to piece together the circumstances that led to the blaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis won\u2019t be a fast-moving operation; it will be methodical and take time to work through what is a pretty complex and hazardous scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grantham said there were concerns about the stability of the remaining structure and they needed to make sure staff were safe while they worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the investigation is ongoing, police are also providing wraparound support to the family and neighbours,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to acknowledge the support we\u2019ve had from the Sanson township and wider Manawat\u016b community.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvents like this hit at the hearts of our communities and we are doing everything we can to answer the many questions around this devastating incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Givealittle page titled \u201cA mother\u2019s worst nightmare\u201d has been set up for the mum of the three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[665,806,1558,1061,4749,1259,6179,2079,1445,49475,305,10053,82,10509,6178,10136,111,43,139,69,28630,17524,1529,210,8844],"class_list":{"0":"post-138250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-around","9":"tag-as","10":"tag-been","11":"tag-children","12":"tag-childrens","13":"tag-community","14":"tag-died","15":"tag-fire","16":"tag-friends","17":"tag-givealittle","18":"tag-have","19":"tag-house","20":"tag-identified","21":"tag-manawat","22":"tag-mother","23":"tag-named","24":"tag-new-zealand","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-newzealand","27":"tag-nz","28":"tag-page","29":"tag-rallies","30":"tag-three","31":"tag-through","32":"tag-victims"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}