Tragedy Strikes New Plymouth as House Fire Claims a Life and Leaves a Child Hospitalized

A devastating house fire in New Plymouth has left one person dead and a child in hospital with severe burns. The incident, which occurred on Oranga Street just before 11pm on Wednesday, has shocked the local community and raised urgent questions about fire safety and emergency response.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) shift manager Belinda Beets confirmed that an adult was found dead in the blaze, while a child was rushed to the hospital with burns to their hands. The fire, initially reported as a bedroom fire, quickly escalated to a full-blown blaze upon the arrival of firefighters, who described it as “well-involved.”

Beets noted that initial concerns arose about whether all residents had escaped the fire, as some individuals were seen returning to the house. This prompted an immediate response from both police and ambulance services. The fire was so intense that it lit up the entire street and caused damage to both the front and back of the house.

A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted the harrowing moment she and her partner discovered the fire. They heard strange sounds—crackling and crashing—and upon looking outside, saw their neighbor’s house engulfed in flames. They rushed to the scene, where they found the child in shock, screaming for his uncle, who had gone back inside for his ute keys and never returned.

The child’s hands were burned, and he had trouble remembering his name, according to the neighbor. “Blessed to be alive, that boy,” she said, describing the child’s screams as something she would never forget. “I’ll never forget that boy’s screams.”

Another neighbor, Rachel, described the horror of the scene. She was on the phone with emergency services at around 11pm when the fire trucks arrived. “That was the scariest thing—just how loud everything sounded from the fire,” she said. “The banging and the crashing of the glass, that was the worst part.”

Three fire trucks and two operational support vehicles were on site at the peak of the fire. Firefighters worked through the night, and the site was handed over to police by 3:30am. Police and FENZ will return on Thursday morning to conduct a scene examination and investigate the cause of the fire.

This tragic event has once again highlighted the dangers of house fires and the importance of fire safety measures. As the community mourns the loss of a life and prays for the recovery of the injured child, questions remain about how such a fire could have escalated so quickly and what steps can be taken to prevent similar tragedies in the future.