An Oamaru man who has lived on the same property for about 80 years could only sit and watch as fire turned his house in to an uninhabitable wreck yesterday.
Alex Reid (80) came to the Awamoa Rd property as a baby with his parents and moved into the house he occupied about 60 years ago.
The fire started in that house about 10.40am, flames destroying a bedroom and smoke and heat causing major damage to the rest of the house. All his and partner Beth Shepherd's belongings were affected.
As he watched the fire brigade fighting the blaze, he told the Otago Daily Times he was first aware something was wrong was when he was in the kitchen and saw a ''red glow'' coming from the main bedroom, where his partner, who had been ill, had been sleeping.
''I wasn't sure what it was but I thought `this isn't good'.''
He went down the hall and looked in the room. His partner was not there, but the area around the bed was on fire.
''I don't know what caused it - I'll probably never know,'' he said.
Mr Reid phoned the fire brigade and, initially, had difficulty getting it to understand where the fire was, having to spell ''Awamoa''.
Asked if he was insured, Mr Reid said: ''The last time I looked I was.''
While not sure where he would stay, he was certain he would ''find a place''.
Oamaru Fire Station officer Carl Banks said two units were sent out with eight firefighters. Breathing apparatus was needed to enter the smoke-filled house.
Iron had to be removed from the roof as the fire had spread into the ceiling.
''The fire was contained to the back bedroom, but the rest of the house suffered major smoke and heat damage.
''Overall, it was a really good save from our point of view.''
He did not know the cause. A fire safety inspector was called to Oamaru yesterday afternoon to investigate.
