A tenant of a property destroyed by a fire says she has "lost everything".
Dunedin firefighters tackled a major house fire in Calton Hill yesterday afternoon.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said emergency services were alerted to the fire in Waimea Ave about 12.40pm, and said the house was "well ablaze" when they arrived.
Four people were inside the two adjoining units and all made it outside, a witness at the scene said.
A tenant at the Kainga Ora-owned property said she had "lost everything".
"All my books, all my items, everything I own, has now gone.
"I don't know what's going to happen."
She had no contents insurance.
"I ran into the property - I heard screaming. I just made sure they had all got out safely.
"When I got there, the flames were seeping out and the building was starting to crack. I wasn't going to stick around for that."
Mr Moore praised the fire and emergency services.
"It could've been a hell of a lot worse; they got here in record time.
"Everybody is safe and that's the important thing. It all happened very quickly."
He had organised clothes and other items for the affected people.
"We pulled it all together and did as much as we could to help them out."
"This is an example of the importance of working smoke alarms.
"On this occasion, they worked as they should.
"When we arrived, the property was fully involved and everyone was accounted for and evacuated."
He praised the public for their quick alerting and reaction to the fire.
"We were able to respond in about one minute from the Lookout Point Station," Mr Harradine said.
Crews from Dunedin, St Kilda and Roslyn also attended the scene, along with police and St John ambulance services.
A St John spokesman said one person was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
