A house fire that claimed two lives in Manapouri last week was caused by a heater, an investigation has found.
The blaze ripped through the property early on Thursday, leaving six siblings motherless and grieving the loss of a young brother.
There were also no smoke alarms in the house when 11-year-old Kelly Kerr and his mother Kelly Kemble Kerr died.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman today said the investigation was complete.
“The fire was caused by a heater coming into contact with flammable material, likely bedding,” district manager Julian Tohiariki said.
Tohiariki said the house had no working smoke alarms.
“This was a tragedy for the family and our thoughts are with them and the community of Manapouri at this difficult time.”
The Fenz finding came after police said earlier today the fire was not suspicious.
In a statement this afternoon Detective Sergeant Mark McCloy said the pair's bodies had been taken to Christchurch where a post-mortem examination was conducted.
He said police and specialist Fenz investigators conducted a full-scale scene examination over the weekend, and concluded the blaze was not suspicious.
Earlier story
Manaia Kerr, 17, was told at 11am on Thursday last week that her mother, Kelly Kemble Kerr, and brother Kelly were inside a house they rented that went up in flames about 3am.
She knew the chances of them being alive were slim, Stuff reported.
"The whole house was burnt. The car wasn’t there and there were no responses from either of them."
Manaia said her mother had a heart condition which meant she could not move swiftly.
"So she wouldn’t have been able to escape.
"It was just really quick."
Police had not disclosed any information about how the fire started but Manaia wondered if it might have been because her mother liked to leave the fire door open.
She was struggling to come to terms with her loss — especially that of her little brother, who she said was the "most sweetest boy".
"He was lovely and very kind and didn’t like any sort of negativity."
Manaia said her brother had a YouTube channel called The Amazing Animator and she urged everyone to subscribe to show their support.
"I really want him to reach his goal of 10,000 subscribers," she said.
Her mother and brother had been renting their Manapouri home with her mother’s partner Jason Hoggard for about two years.
Mr Hoggard was out at sea as a captain when he was told the news and was immediately flown home by helicopter.
"I can’t even imagine what he’s going through," Manaia said.
Detective Sergeant Mark McCloy said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
He said cranes had been used to remove remaining sections of the roof.
