Under Fire [24/06/2001] PRODUCER: LAURIE CLARKE REPORTER: MIKE McROBERTS Mike Intro: This week we had a timely reminder of the dangers of using candles for lighting and open fires for heating, when a man was killed in a house fire in the far north. Not that Lorraine Kapea needed any reminding. She lost a child and two grandchildren when her Northland house was razed to the ground a month ago. Tonight, for the first time, Lorraine and her family talk about the hardships of living without power or water, the events of that tragic night and the accusations of blame that followed. At a time when this family should be grieving, they feel like they're under fire. LORRAINE: At least we have three children to nurture, to love. The night of the tragedy and before that, there was ten of us, now there are seven. MIKE (V/O): Lorraine Kapea with daughter Sophie and grand daughter Patience: part of an extended family that numbered six children. That was until an horrific house fire a month ago that claimed the lives of three of them. Lorraine and her family's grieving had barely begun before the finger pointing started. Accusations of children being left home alone, rumours about where the parents were and why were they living in a house with no power or water. LORRAINE: They were the life of our family. MIKE (V/O): Emotions are still raw, the pain still obvious. But this family felt compelled to confront the questions, to tell what really happened that night in Manukau. Twenty minutes south of Kaitaia, Manukau valley in the district of Herekino. Mount Orowhana, the maunga or local treasure looks down. Spirits outnumber the living here. Maori once lived all over the surrounding hills, then came the kauri loggers. Now it's just a few houses, a church, and an abandoned school house. A school house that will become home for Lorraine and her family over the next few months. Clothes, bedding, food, gathered by St Vincent de Paul, donated from families who can least afford it. The family shifted back from Auckland last year. Lorraine's son Thomas had been bequeathed the family home. The 23 year old and his partner had three children, Lorraine three more children. Lorraine had fond memories of her parents' home and the community she grew up in. She thought moving there might bring all of the family closer together. Since the death of her father 18 years ago it had been occupied by tenants. Lorraine’s father left the property to his grandson Thomas. It would be his when he reached the age of 20. Until then it was looked after by a trustee, a local resident. But when Lorraine and her family moved back here last year to claim what was rightfully theirs, they found a property overrun, a house in ruins, money owed on rates. But most importantly, the title still hadn't been transferred from the trustee to Thomas. No title meant no way of raising a bank loan, no way of paying for the improvements needed to make the house habitable. LORRAINE: There was no power, no water. Just about every room in the house had been trashed by the previous people that had lived there. The bedroom we slept in had holes in the ceiling. The windows were smashed, most of them were just rotting off and falling off when you touched them. It was just, you could put a pen right through the walls from the outside of the house, it was so rotten. MIKE (V/O): It would have been easy to have just walked away but Lorraine felt a bond to the property. LORRAINE: Dad built that house with his own hands. He'd work during the day and night he'd do the building with a candle. MIKE (V/O): Lorraine and her family began to rebuild the place. They needed a new water pipe for running water. As they saved their money another piece of pipe was bought. It was a slow process. LORRAINE: We were only living in two rooms when we first got there. The lounge became our cooking and living area. My mum and dad's bedroom became the sleeping area then and as we cleaned each part of the house we started to move back into those rooms. MIKE: How many of you were living in the house? LORRAINE: Ten. MIKE (V/O): The pine trees Lorraine and her father planted years ago have been cut down, the land cleared of the burnt remains of the house. A lone power pole still stands. Power would be the family's undoing, or rather the lack of it. The overhead supply to the house had been disconnected six weeks before they moved in. They were told a new power line would have to be run underground. SHARON: We had to dig a trench. It was 20 meters, two feet deep and we hand dug that ourselves, otherwise it would have cost $300 to get a digger to come in and dig it up. MIKE (V/O): Lorraine's daughter-in-law Sharon was also living in the house. SHARON: So we done it ourselves. Then we found out we couldn't have the power on because it needed rewiring in the house. MIKE (V/O): They'd spent six hundred dollars laying a cable that was next to useless. The old wiring in the house was dangerous. The quote to rewire the place came to $2,600. LORRAINE: I just wanted to cry. We all got angry because they could have told us that in the beginning. Cos we all believed once the cable went in we had power, you know. MIKE (V/O): With no power and winter looming Lorraine was worried about living in the old home. LORRAINE: It was always cold, the wind just blows through the house, the rain was just pouring in through the windows and we had to put boards up. MIKE (V/O): Lorraine wrote to the trustees of the very school house they now stay in, asked if her family could move in over winter. She says she never heard back. In a strange way their plight helped Lorraine’s family be accepted by others in the community. The children thrived. LORRAINE: They were so glad to get away from city life they'd been in and it was like they just blended in with everything here around them. MIKE (V/O): 14 year old Luki excelled at the nearby Kaitaia College. A passion for drama and dancing soon had him on stage. The night of the fire Luki returned from a school drama competition in Whangarei. LORRAINE: He was all excited when he came home but he was tired. MIKE (V/O): The children were given their favourite meal of chicken and chips as the adults prepared to go out. LORRAINE: Dishes were put away and things were tidied up and all they had to do was settle for bed. One candle was on the fireplace on top of a jar. The fire was going on low, we had coal. It wasn't blazing. And then we left that night. MIKE (V/O): They left to play eight ball, a pool tournament run between local hotels. They would be at the Herekino tavern for some hours before getting a phone call telling them their house was on fire. Thomas and Sharon were first on the scene. SHARON: I saw the house burning and I knew my kids were in there. And tried to run up to the house but the flames were too hot and I couldn't get near it. And I couldn't do anything. I had to watch my babies go in that fire. LORRAINE: I saw the whole side of Manukau glowing, our house was blazing and I knew I had lost my babies in there. I don't know I just started screaming. I didn't have to get there to be told. And when we pulled up at the house I just screamed and my son came and told me “Mum, Ngarangi, my brother Luki”, and then someone came and told us Kenneth too. By then the house was well ablaze it was just nothing, just a shell. So many things went through me. And I couldn't stop calling for them. MIKE (V/O): Through the flames 12 year old Toyah saved the two youngest girls, when she turned back for the others it was too late. Three children died: eight year old Ngarangi, six year old Kenneth, and Luki. LORRAINE: Luki was my soul mate. He was my everything. MIKE (V/O): While Luki was of legal age to care for the younger ones, it was known the teenager has poor eyesight. Doubts were raised about his ability to mind the children. LORRAINE: If he went out into the dark he couldn't see, but in the house where there was light he could see. In the area where he was he knew that part of the house. MIKE: How responsible was Luki to be caring for those children? LORRAINE: Luki was a very caring boy. He made sure that everything was as it was before they went to sleep, but this night he was tired. MIKE (V/O): And because of that Lorraine says she double checked the candles and open fire. But fire fighters and police say the blaze was most likely started by a candle. LORRAINE: They were told never to touch candles. They got caught once, holding the candle. I took the candle and gave them a slap each and told them that it was very dangerous, they could burn. MIKE (V/O): This was a family that had thought about the possibility of fire. They even had an escape drill, but that didn't deter accusations the parents were to blame. PETE SMITH: It was sad you know, just human nature that they can assume that. MIKE (V/O): Pete smith has been supporting his cousin Lorraine since the fire. (I/V): What were some of the things you were hearing? PETE SMITH: They ranged from, they ranged from they deserve it, to serves them right, to don't go out and leave your kids alone, to they shouldn't have been living in a condemned house. LORRAINE: They know nothing about our life, they know nothing about our children. They know nothing at all. One night at a pub. That's what they're hanging over me. MIKE (V/O): It wasn't the first time the children had been left at home. Lorraine says they encouraged her to get out, to take a break. LORRAINE: So I took time out and went down to the pub and it was just a release of everything that we go through each day of our lives while we were living there. So a night at the pub for eight ball was time out. And because of that time out, yes I lost my babies. MIKE (V/O): Toyah's been hailed a hero for rescuing Patience and Sophie, but doesn't act like it and doesn't talk about that night. Three weeks after the fire this is a wounded family, the pain still fresh. SHARON: I can't sleep at night cos I keep thinking about it, and I keep thinking about the pain they would have been feeling. MIKE: What about Thomas? How's he coping? SHARON: He won’t talk to me, but I know he's hurting. LORRAINE: And I look at the school bus going past and I wait for them to get off and I know it's never going to happen. And after that fire I just didn't want to know that homestead, I hated myself, I hated that place, I hated the people that I went to for help. MIKE (V/O): Now every door seems open, the community only to eager to help. And others too are joining in like Habitat for Humanity, an international aid agency that builds homes for people in need. Habitat for Humanity could help in building a new home on the property. FRED CLARK: I think that's an appropriate place to have it. PETE SMITH: That's where the old man's saying to build the house. MIKE (V/O): Fred Clark, the kaumatua knows where the house should go. The family aren't so sure. LORRAINE: He's pacing it out. MIKE (V/O): One thing the family is certain about, they want to remain in Manukau. LORRAINE: Our future is here, in Manukau, back at the homestead, God willing. PETE SMITH: She came here with ten in her family, she can live here with her ten in her family. The moment she leaves it becomes seven. MIKE (V/O): There's a spirituality in these parts which can be hard to explain, or sometimes it defies explanation. In the play that Luki was performing the day before the fire he played two roles. He's one of the figures in red, representing flames in a fire...destruction. And then the warrior, rising from the ashes signifying rebirth, regeneration of life. The first time Lorraine saw the play performed was by Luki’s classmates, at his tangi. LORRAINE: I don't know how to explain it but the scene looked familiar, looked real, like we were actually part of that play what we were just going through. MIKE (V/O): Luki's spirit pervades all of this story. One night when their cooker ran out of gas Lorraine and Luki went to a neighbours to finish preparing their evening meal. As they were returning home Lorraine despaired of their situation. LORRAINE: And as we got to Mirams gate and turned towards the homestead he just stopped and he looked up and he goes, “Mum we're going to have a beautiful mansion one day.” And I said to Luki, “How can you see a mansion? It's dark.” He goes, “Mum there is going to be a mansion there one day.” The only thing is, I didn't know he wasn't going to share it with us. Back Announce: And we can now confirm that Habitat for Humanity have agreed to help in the building of a new house for Lorraine's family. If you'd like to contribute to that, there is an 0900 number to call: 0900 Habitat... that's 0900 42248. There is also a separate appeal for the family being run by a charitable trust. Donations can be made to the Herekino Williams Fire Appeal at any branch of Westpac Trust.