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Peter nunn
Taranaki firefighters worked for hours to contain a fire after a gas explosion at a cabin in New Plymouth Tuesday night.
A ladder and the quick thinking of a neighbor helped two people escape their New Plymouth home after it burst into flames after a gas explosion.
On Thursday, New Plymouth Fire and Emergency Station Senior Officer Jason Crowe said the 120-year-old cabin had been divided into two departments.
Two people were upstairs and one downstairs when the explosion occurred Tuesday night.
Shortly after the blast, the ground-floor occupant grabbed a wooden ladder and held it against the upper-floor balcony so the two people trapped there could escape, Crowe said.
“It was a very quick thought,” he said. “The occupants of the upper floor were able to escape.”
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He said it was a timely reminder to always have an escape plan and to make sure homes have working smoke detectors.
Leighton Keith / Stuff
The 120-year-old city center country house was divided into two apartments.
Fire crews worked for nearly six hours to put out the fire in the historic downtown cabin.
Neighbors on the property reported hearing a loud explosion moments before the cabin went up in flames.
Initially there were reports of the disappearance of one person, but later it was established that all were accounted for.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Investigations into the gas explosion continue.
A spokeswoman for St John Ambulance said the three occupants were transported to Taranaki Base Hospital Tuesday night, two with minor injuries and one with serious injuries.
An upstairs man was burned in the incident, Crowe confirmed.
A spokeswoman for the Taranaki District Board of Health said the man, who was seriously injured, was airlifted to Waikato Hospital around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The Waikato District Board of Health has been contacted for an update on the man’s condition.
On Thursday, fire investigator Andrew Cotter said the explosion was caused by gas and more investigations are underway.
Cotter had previously said that the fire destroyed the cabin and caused some damage to a neighboring home, but firefighters had done a “fabulous job” to prevent it from spreading further.
