Child caught after escaping fire in top floor apartment

A Christchurch townhouse has been gutted and three people are injured following a dramatic house fire last night that saw a child passed out of a top-floor window.

Four Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) appliances were sent to fight the blaze which was reported shortly before 10pm on Tuesday on New Brighton Rd, opposite The Palms shopping centre in the suburb of Shirley.

A neighbour, two doors down from the property, told the Herald he heard a large boom and what sounded like an earthquake.

“My partner said, ‘It’s an earthquake, it’s an earthquake,’ and we could definitely smell the smoke,” he said.

“It was a violent fire and was moving very quickly.”

The man said when he noticed it was a fire, his partner tried to collect valuables, including her passport.

“We evacuated as soon as we could.

“The fire brigade was here very quickly, and so was St John.”

The man told the Herald a young child was rescued from the top of the property’s window and he thought it might have been one of the parents and a bystander who saved the child from the blaze.

“Whoever it was, they are a hero, as they couldn’t go down because the fire was raging,” he said.

The neighbour said he didn’t know the residents who lived in the property as they had moved in recently.

Hato Hone St John earlier said it was advised of the fire at 9.54pm and dispatched two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and an operations manager to the scene.

It treated three patients, one with serious injuries and two with moderate injuries.

A Herald reporter at the scene on Wednesday said the smell of thick smoke was permeating through the street, with surrounding townhouse residents airing out their properties by keeping their windows open.

Pictures from the scene show both levels of the property extensively damaged, with all household items reduced to charred remains.

The apartment itself, which appeared to be a relatively new build, had been marred by black burn stains, replacing its once-fresh white paint.

None of the neighbouring townhouses appear to have been affected by the blaze.

A resident who lives nearby said: “Good thing these townhouses have firewalls in between them.”

A witness, who asked not to be named, told the Herald they heard a loud bang before plumes of smoke erupted from the apartment block.

They said they saw a mother and child on the top floor of the building.

“The mum passed the child out the top window and two boys from the street were underneath and caught her,” they said.

Afterwards, the mother climbed through the top window and dropped to the ground, said the witness.

Christchurch East MP Reuben Davidson told RNZ he will be visiting residents from the apartment block.

He said residents were concerned for the safety of those in the complex - and local councillors will be visiting community members this morning.

"I believe this is a new apartment complex, quite close to The Palms Shopping Centre, so it's a busy community and I'm sure there's a lot of concerned neighbours and concerned residents who are worried that those who live there are all okay."

By Pierre Nixon and Dubby Henry