Precious family treasures lost in fire

By Yvette Wakelin
Prominent Tauranga kaumatua Colin Bidois is today thankful for his excellent hearing after it saved his family from almost certain death.
The Ngati Ranginui leader yesterday awoke to the sound of "crackling and banging" - just in time to help his family escape the blaze that ripped through his Pyes Pa home.
Sifting through the buckled remains of his small Gasson Rd home, Mr Bidois said he was grateful the spreading fire awoke him in time to save his wife and son.
"It's certainly lucky we are all alive. A few more minutes and it easily could have been a case of three charred bodies," he said.
It is believed poor insulation around the fireplace caused the wall to heat and start the fire. The family had only just settled in to bed for the night after TV1's Dancing with the Stars final when Mr Bidois suddenly awoke.
"What woke me up was crackling and banging coming from the lounge - it was really loud ... I'm lucky I have good ears."
"As soon as I stepped out the bedroom door I knew something wasn't right. The room was full of smoke and I could see the fire burning."
While seeing the flames ripping through his prized possessions and home of three years was difficult, Mr Bidois' first concern was for his wife Wiki and son, John, who was sleeping in the next bedroom.
"I just yelled out to them for them to get out because we were on fire."
Luckily the trio managed to escape unscathed - waking Wiki's daughter and family, who were bunked down in the garage.
"Wiki woke them up and got the cellphone and called the fire service."
The fire service arrived a short time later but not before the family grabbed the garden hose and dampened down their home in an attempt to stop the fire from spreading.
Moving through burnt remains yesterday morning Mr Bidois said a lot of his family's treasures had gone up in smoke.
It was the disappearance of "precious photos" illustrating "old places of interest" that really upset him. "I have a bit of a photographic hobby and had photos of things like old marae and buildings, that type of thing."
However, Mr Bidois, who has now moved in the family caravan, admitted it all could have been a lot worse. "It could have so easily been us in there - luckily that's not the case."