Neville Bryant rushed his family to safety yesterday morning after the grass outside the Caen St property they rent caught alight, but with no family in the area or support system they have been left to fend for themselves.
Instead of being met with support by members of the community, the family was laughed at and the fire celebrated.
Mr Bryant said in the past, his disabled stepson faced allegations of "interfering with a girl" and the family had put up with vitriol from the neighbourhood ever since.
When news of the fire spread, people had come and laughed at them from across the road.
Others took to Facebook, writing things such as "nothing sad about a pedofiles [sic] house burning down" and "finally some things are improving in our town".
Mr Bryant was left in "shock" and "disbelief".
"It’s just too much."
The fire began early in the morning after Mr Bryant woke up to light the fireplace, he said.
He believed a spark had blown up the chimney and landed on the long grass outside.
The landlord kept a collection of motorcycles on the site, and when the fire spread, fuel tanks started exploding.
His first focus was getting his wife out safely, as she suffered from heart failure and had problems with her lungs.
After the family were safe he went back in for the dogs, but he was too late to save the family’s four pet birds.
One of them he had owned for 30 years, a rainbow lorikeet named Louie.
They had no family to stay with and would be camping out in front of the house until they found somewhere to live.
He would go to Work and Income to see if there was any emergency accommodation, but he doubted they would accommodate their three dogs.
It was also a problem that would set them back for finding a new home to rent.
He refused to get rid of the pets, as they were all his wife "had to live for".
His uninsured truck was ruined in the blaze and they lost most of their possessions.
Mr Bryant was at a loss for what they would do next, or how anybody could help them.
"I honestly don’t know."
Video footage shows flames billowing out from the property higher than the roof of the house.
Oamaru fire chief Steve Couper said the fire was "going well" when crews arrived and they had to cut through padlocked gates to access the blaze around the side of the house.
The padlock keys were inside the house, leaving them to "make access the best way we can", he said.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said crews responded after calls were made by the public about 6.55am.
Two trucks from the Oamaru Volunteer Fire Brigade initially responded, but after Fenz continued to receive calls a unit from Weston was also sent.
Specialist fire investigator Scott Cameron said the fire was not suspicious.
The family did the right thing by getting out of the house and the most important thing was that nobody was hurt, he said.
