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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
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Ashburton man John Withell examines some of the fire damage caused by a faulty heat transfer system in his home. PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 300915-TM-046
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Blaze caused by faulty system BY DAISY HUDSON
DAISY.H@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
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Ashburton man John Withell was sitting at home watching television last Thursday night when the lights went out. Just a few moments later, the spot where he had been sitting was engulfed in flames. The Elizabeth Street house was the second Mid Canterbury property in less than 18 months to be set ablaze by a faulty heat transfer system. Mr Withell says he and wife Shirley were “bloody lucky” that their neighbour, who happened to be a volunteer firefighter, saw flames on the roof and alerted the Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade. “I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” he said.
“You don’t realise how quickly fire spreads.” The roof and a living room wall suffered moderate damage in the blaze, but Mr Withell believed that if the fire had occurred later that night, someone could have been killed. The particular model of heat transfer system that caused the blaze was the same as the one responsible for a family home in Willowby being gutted in June last year. The Weiss Heat Transfer Unit model FV603 was recalled on June 16 2014, less than two weeks after the Willowby house fire. Ashburton fire risk management officer Murray Cairns believes dozens of fires around the country have been caused by the faulty system. He urged people to check their sys-
tems as soon as a recall notice was issued. “They recall stuff for a reason, it’s obviously causing a problem.” Mr Withell and his wife were “extremely lucky” to escape the fire unscathed, he said. “If that had been in the middle of the night, there could have been a tragic result.” There had been a large number of deaths related to fires over the past several months, and the last thing Mr Cairns wanted was to see a fatality closer to home. He also urged people to check their smoke alarms. The Fire Service attends about 3700 house fires per year, and 80 per cent of those are in buildings without working smoke alarms, he said. “One smoke alarm can save a life.”
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