{"id":503098,"date":"2026-06-30T18:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/503098\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T18:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:03:09","slug":"coroner-finds-motueka-fire-which-killed-samoan-rse-worker-caused-by-unattended-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/503098\/","title":{"rendered":"Coroner finds Motueka fire which killed Samoan RSE worker caused by unattended cooking"},"content":{"rendered":"

But he died on October 19, 2025, nine days before a scheduled first appearance in the Nelson District Court<\/a>, for what were described by the coroner as \u201cserious charges\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was found to have died from smoke inhalation after a pot left on the stove in his flat caught fire, and set the premises alight.<\/p>\n

Alatina was later found lying on his stomach next to the bed with his head pointing towards the door, Coroner McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

There were signs he had been drinking heavily and for various reasons, including possible removal of the alarms by the occupants, there were no working smoke alarms in the flat he lived at on Heywood Orchards, Coroner McKenzie found.<\/p>\n

Police were told the premises had two alarms. <\/p>\n

The coroner said <\/a>in her findings, following a hearing on the papers, that various evidence was placed before her about whether there was a working alarm in Alatina\u2019s flat, but in the end she was unable to safely find there had been one.<\/p>\n

Orchard spokesman Scott Heywood told NZME they co-operated fully with the coroner throughout the process and respected the findings released today.<\/p>\n

He said on behalf of the company their thoughts remained with Talavini\u2019s wife, family, friends, and colleagues. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis death was a tragic event, and our sympathies continue to be with everyone affected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Third visit from Samoa<\/p>\n

Alatina had arrived in New Zealand in March last year, on his third visit under the Recognised Seasonal Employer <\/a>scheme. <\/p>\n

He lived on site at the Riwaka orchard in a two-flat complex provided as part of the RSE scheme. <\/p>\n

On October 18 Alatina contacted his employer to say he was unwell and would not be at work that day. <\/p>\n

That night, he and his wife, Mosooi Soatama, enjoyed a long video call, which ended about 2am, the coroner said.<\/p>\n

Around mid morning on October 19, Heywood saw smoke coming from Alatina\u2019s flat. He called emergency services and tried unsuccessfully to contact him.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand<\/a> said it received multiple calls and sent fire engines and tankers from Motueka, M\u0101pua, Nelson, Kaiteriteri and Tasman.<\/p>\n

They arrived to find the building well alight.<\/p>\n

A forensic pathologist\u2019s report concluded Alatina died from carbon monoxide poisoning, from smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n

Toxicological analysis showed he had a blood alcohol reading of 118mg per 100ml of blood, which for comparison purposes was more than twice the legal limit for a driver over 20, the coroner said.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said while it found no evidence of any alarms it did find a small cylindrical battery in Alatina\u2019s bedroom which they said could have been from a smoke alarm. <\/p>\n

A photograph taken of the flat in March, just before Alatina arrived showed a smoke alarm sitting on the arm of a chair. <\/p>\n

A team leader told the orchard owner that occupants of the flat were \u201cknown to remove the smoke alarm\u201d. <\/p>\n

Coroner McKenzie said the flat last had the smoke alarms inspected in 2024 by a family member of the orchardists.<\/p>\n

Nothing suspicious<\/p>\n

Two days after the fire, as Heywood was walking around the site at the company\u2019s Riwaka property<\/a> in Dehra Doon Rd, he heard the \u201cbeeping\u201d of a smoke alarm in the rubble. <\/p>\n

The coroner said the police also heard it while on the phone to him.<\/p>\n

She said police<\/a> completed an investigation and were satisfied there was no criminal liability or suspicious circumstances surrounding Alatina\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

\u201cI accept this advice,\u201d the coroner said.<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand concluded the fire was accidental and the result of unattended cooking.<\/p>\n

Coroner McKenzie extended her condolences to Alatina\u2019s family for their loss, but made no recommendations, based on the lack of evidence of any working smoke alarms in the premises.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also observe that there are widely publicised campaigns about not leaving cooking unattended and the importance of having working smoke alarms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"SamoanSamoan RSE worker Talavini Alatina who died in a house fire near Motueka was remembered as a hard-working son, and a loving husband and father. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Samoa Global News reported last October, Alatina was survived by his parents, his wife and four children.<\/p>\n

Tributes had poured in soon after his death from people who remembered him as a hard-working son, and a loving husband and father.<\/p>\n

Valued team member<\/p>\n

Scott Heywood said Talavini was a valued member of the team and was well regarded by those who worked alongside him.<\/p>\n

He said the business remained committed to continually reviewing and improving the wellbeing, pastoral care and support it provided to all of its workers, including those employed under the RSE scheme.<\/p>\n

Heywood said it provided valuable opportunities for employers and workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are challenges in supporting people who are living away from their families and home communities, we take those responsibilities seriously. <\/p>\n

\u201cProviding suitable accommodation, pastoral care and a safe working environment is an important part of our role as an RSE employer,\u201d Heywood said.<\/p>\n

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ\u2019s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But he died on October 19, 2025, nine days before a scheduled first appearance in the Nelson District…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9218,3595,8604,1873,6217,12629,1349,4731,6179,1872,11424,2079,10053,3375,175793,111,43,139,69,119383,20153,39175,1238,126783,5977,12767],"class_list":["post-503098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-before","tag-by","tag-caused","tag-charges","tag-cooking","tag-coroner","tag-court","tag-days","tag-died","tag-face","tag-finds","tag-fire","tag-house","tag-killed","tag-motueka","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rse","tag-samoan","tag-seasonal","tag-serious","tag-unattended","tag-which","tag-worker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503098","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=503098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}