Three people asleep in a Kaitangata house destroyed by fire were lucky to escape with only smoke inhalation, a fire safety officer says.
Fire investigator and safety officer Stuart Ide, of Queenstown, said the house, which caught fire early yesterday, was not fitted with smoke alarms.
Two of the three occupants woke up when the fire broke a window, by which time (about 2.30am) the lounge was already well-involved, Mr Ide said.
The pair woke the third tenant who threw his cat out the window before escaping the burning house.
They were covered in smoke and dirt and two of the group were taken to Clutha Health First, in Balclutha, for treatment for smoke inhalation, he said.
After spending the day sifting through the remains of the gutted house, Mr Ide said it appeared the fire started either in a bucket of ashes in the lounge or a stereo beside the bucket.
Based on that information, police said they were not treating the fire as suspicious.
Mr Ide said a fire investigator from the owner's insurance company had taken the remains of the stereo away for further forensic analysis.
If there had been working smoke alarms in the house, the three occupants would likely have escaped a lot earlier, he said.
As it was, they were lucky to have woken before being overcome by smoke, Mr Ide said.
Three appliances attended the blaze, which was extinguished within an hour.
