Two a penny

.
Cell death inquiry finds 17 breaches

The Thursday, 29 January 2009

Policebreached procedure 17 times when processing a man who was later found dead in his cell, an internal investigation found.
Anthony McGuire, 33, a chef, died in his cell on May 26 last year. .
Investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Anderson told an inquest at Rotorua yesterday that there were 17 breaches of procedure.
He was inadequately monitored by police staff, and had not been searched, fingerprinted or photographed, the internal police investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death found. It was common police policy to remove any items from prisoners that could be used to harm themselves or others. Mr McGuire was not searched, fingerprinted or photographed and was locked up fully clothed with items such as shoelaces and jewellery.
Mr McGuire was found hanging by his shoelaces from his cell door. "They don't deny what happened. His sister, Belinda McGuire, said the family did not hold any animosity toward police.
"The family is satisfied with the events of his death that have come out in the inquest and it will bring closure for all of us. In the end, Anthony must be responsible for his own actions."

.
Suspicious blazes strike Invercargill

Police investigations begin as rash of call-outs stretches fire crews

By JARED MORGAN – Wednesday, 28 January 2009

/ 136525
FIGHTING TO GET IN: Firefighters struggled to get into a shed on Bluff Rd during a large fire at 3.30am yesterday.

Invercargill police are investigating four suspicious blazes, including a home targeted as a family slept inside, after a rash of call-outs stretched city fire crews yesterday.
The question of whether a firebug was responsible for the suspicious blazes was something police and Fire Safety investigators would not be drawn on last night.
Between midnight and 7pm firefighters received 11 call-outs to six structure fires, including the four being investigated, one callback to the scene of an earlier fire, one car crash and three false alarms.
Firefighters were called to the first fire in a hayshed on Severn St about midnight.
Detective Fred Shandley, of Invercargill CIB, said joint investigations were continuing on whether the fires were connected. .30am destroyed a storage shed on Bluff Rd.
The second fire about 3.
In the fourth blaze, which broke out between 6am and 9am, an uninsured business premises in the South City Mall on Elles Rd was damaged after a refrigeration unit on the roof of the building was set alight, he said.
A home in Bain St was the third property hit after wood against an exterior wall was set alight.
"If you look at the time and location there is more similarity between the (first three) fires.
It was unclear whether the fourth fire was linked to the first three, Mr Shandley said."
Gary Rodgers, the owner of the Bluff Rd shed, was yesterday counting the cost of the blaze."
Gary Rodgers, the owner of the Bluff Rd shed, was yesterday counting the cost of the blaze."
His tenant, who rented half the shed from him and lost a $90,000 street sweeper and personal effects, alerted him to the fire about 5.
"It's more than $100,000 worth of gear without the cost of the shed.
"My son passed me the phone and he said `I've got some bad news for you.30am, Mr Rogers said.
"He said `it's worse than that it's gone'.' I said `the bastards have broken into Bluff Rd haven't they?'," Mr Rogers said. "It's not a life it hasn't got a pulse."
While insurance had yet to assess the extent of losses, he was remaining positive, he said.49am."
In Bain St, Glenys Williamson, her 26-year-old son Manawa and three grandchildren Joshua Kerr, 16, Marcus Kerr, 14, and Tyler Kerr, 9, were all woken by a neighbour thumping on the door at 6. I said `what?"'
Her son and eldest grandson rushed outside with buckets of water to douse the flames while she called 111, she said. I said `what?"'
Her son and eldest grandson rushed outside with buckets of water to douse the flames while she called 111, she said.
The fire, which scorched the eave of the house but caused little damage, had rattled her and her family, Ms Williamson said.
"It's scary I've got to get young Tyler to bed tonight and say it's going to be all right."
At Impuls-d, a South City Mall bag retailer, owner Warren Skill said he was aware youths sometimes hung out on the roof. and believed they were responsible for the blaze.
He was uninsured.
Invercargill Fire Service chief fire officer Brendan Nally said the volume of call-outs had taxed firefighting resources.
Rostered fire crews, one at the Kingswell station in south Invercargill and two at the fire service's central city headquarters, had to be supplemented by volunteers and off-duty firefighters to deal with the blazes particularly those that happened yesterday morning, which tied up firefighters for hours, he said.
"We activated Invercargill volunteers we've got 17 (people) available and had to call in staff who were off duty."
Many of the additional staff mobilised to fight the fires were rostered to begin work at 8am and were beginning to feel jaded by yesterday afternoon, Mr Nally said.
"We are having to manage a fair bit of fatigue."
SUSPICIOUS FIRES Midnight: Firefighters are called to a hayshed in Severn St, an excavator is used to bury burning hay and fire crews maintain vigil at the scene until 6am. 3.25am: Fire crews called to a large shed on Bluff Rd opposite the intersection with Hyde St to find it well ablaze. Tight security on fences and the structure itself hamper efforts to douse the blaze. An explosion and the sound of gas cylinders venting in the heat mean firefighters build an improvised dam around intact cylinders to hold water and keep them cool. They remain on the scene until 8am. 6.53am: Firefighters douse the remnants of a deliberately lit fire against the exterior wall of a house. 10am: A fire in the housing for a refrigeration unit on the roof of a Elles Rd business goes up in smoke. Firefighters are forced to dismantle the housing and break into the roof cavity to reach the seat of the blaze.

.
Serial disqualified-driver back in court

Friday, 16 January 2009

A motorist who was banned indefinitely from getting behind the wheel 14 years ago appeared in Tauranga District Court today on his 11th charge of driving while disqualified.
"What is the problem with you getting a driver's licence?" Judge Christopher Harding asked Eugene Thomas, 46, of Papamoa.
"Nothing really, your honour," Thomas replied. Police seized his vehicle.
He had been stopped at Mt Maunganui last October 25 for speeding.
Judge Harding said: "You know what happens: You come back (to court) and you get disqualified for another year.
Thomas told the judge he had "done the drug tests" needed before he could apply to re-sit his licence, but added that the process for gaining a current licence costs money.
"All I am able to do is disqualify you again for 12 months – and that is all I will do. ."
He urged Thomas to do something about it."

."
Thomas said: "Aw, that's not nice

.
Gay sex-seekers ruin it for Rabbit Island nudists

The Thursday, 08 January 2009

MARTIN DE RUYTER/
NUDE, NOT RUDE: This man who agreed to be photographed on Nelson’s Rabbit Island says he is part of a community of genuine nudists there, but said there was a group of men who ‘disappear into the bushes’ and he found their behavour offensive.

Men meeting for sexual encounters and spying on others at Nelson's Rabbit Island run the risk of bringing stigma on the gay community, says the president of the Nelson gay group Spectrum. .
Wayne Bartram said the eastern end of the island was so well known as a meeting place for gay men that he would tell visitors examining to contact others to "go to the beach and turn right".
"We don't need animosity because we are not all dirty people, we are just gay," he said.
He had many gay friends who visited Rabbit Island to play cards, swim, read or talk, with or without clothes.
There was enough space at the beach to enjoy a nudist lifestyle, he said.
A nudist who agreed to be photographed but not named said he had been practising nudity there for about five years and was part of a group of "genuine folk who don't want to make a scene".
They often hid behind bushes to stare at other beach users, he said.
But there was a group of "hide and seek guys who disappear into the bushes" and he found their behaviour offensive.
A woman who oftenly rides her horse on the beach said she often saw naked people and had been told by other beach users that "all sorts" went on under the pine trees.
Wellington labourer Josh Scott told The that he wasn't too bothered when he glimpsed a nudist while walking back from a swim at the eastern end of the beach, but "wondered what was going on" when he walked past a group of five naked men.
A number of people had been issued trespass notices over the years, he said.
Sergeant Craig Barker of Richmond police said there were one or two complaints about nudity at Rabbit Island each year and an occasional report of offensive behaviour.
If it receives any, it is ready to put up signs reminding people that the beach is not clothes optional.
The Tasman District Council has not had any complaints about nudity this summer.
Members of the public should contact the police if they saw anything objectionable occuring in the area, he said.
Mayor Richard Kempthorne said he was aware the eastern end of the beach was used as a gathering place by the gay community, but not of any complaints.

.
Lakes overflow but power bill relief ruled out

– Thursday, 08 January 2009

Power-price cuts are being ruled out despite generators spilling vast amounts of water from over-full South Island hydro lakes.
The glut of water was highlighted yesterday by the first spill at the Benmore power station on the Waitaki River in nearly five years.
Continuing spills from Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki further up Meridian Energy's Waitaki River hydro scheme have fed downstream into Lake Benmore, lifting it above its maximum operating level and forcing a massive release of water yesterday afternoon.
Household power prices are predicted to almost double this decade and are already two-thirds higher than in 2000.
The state-owned power company last spilled at Benmore, the biggest station on the Waitaki chain, in March 2004.26c a kilowatt hour (kWh) (including GST) in 2000, to 21.
Average residential power prices have risen 66 per cent in the past eight years from 13.97c a kWh last year.
South Island hydro lakes are brimming over after weeks of heavy north-westerly rain, just four months after low lake levels raised fears of spring power shortages.
Politicians were fired up about electricity prices late last year, demanding answers after Contact Energy increased prices by more than 10 percentin some regions.
As a result, wholesale, or spot prices have tumbled to the point where the water is effectively worthless. With more north-west rain on the way and low demand for power as a result of summer holidays, spilling is likely to continue from Benmore, Pukaki and Tekapo.001c a kWh.
Yesterday, spot prices at Benmore bottomed out at 1c a megawatt hour (MWh), or 0. During last winter's power shortage, spot prices peaked five or six times higher than average at almost 50c a kWh, or $500 a MWh. During last winter's power shortage, spot prices peaked five or six times higher than average at almost 50c a kWh, or $500 a MWh.
Meridian and Contact Energy, which is also spilling from Lake Roxburgh and Lake Dunstan, said the increased residential tariffs had already allowed for the possibility spot prices might fall temporarily. However, there is no sign the reverse is true.
"It is like swings and roundabouts.
Meridian spokeswoman Claire Shaw said commercial customers that bought power on the spot market would be "reaping the rewards".
"So the tariff people are paying takes this kind of occurrence into account anyway."
The residential customer tariff had considered the likely behaviour of the spot market.
"Some people are saying they've never seen the lakes so full."
Contact spokesman Jonathan Hill said that the spilling and the low spot prices made for a "pretty unusual situation". This is a pretty rare and unusual set of circumstances.
"The way we set out retail tariffs is to shield customers from the fluctuations in the spot market by setting a price path."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee could not be contacted last night."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee could not be contacted last night.
Yesterday's spill at Benmore began at 4.30pm. Meridian is now spilling 200 cubic metres a second (cumecs) of water, the equivalent of 4GWh a day of electricity, enough to power about 200,000 homes. .
Shaw said Lake Benmore reached its maximum control level about 4pm, forcing operators to start spilling into the Waitaki River.
"We're getting about 200 cumecs more into Benmore than we can push through the station. We should be spilling for days."
There were no plans yet to spill from Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki further downstream but that could happen , she said.

.
Fire ban looms for Hawke’s Bay

The Wednesday, 24 December 2008

A total fire ban looms in Hawke's Bay as the region struggles to cope with very dry conditions.
However, a meeting of the former Hawke's Bay drought committee in Hastings yesterday concluded the region is not yet in the grip of another drought.
"Many areas on the Heretaunga Plains and near the coast are verging on extreme fire conditions," he said.
Hastings District Council deputy principal rural fire officer Paul Hawke said soaring temperatures had made the district which covers a large part of Hawke's Bay one of the driest in the country.
Fire permits were now being issued only for barbecues and traditional cooking fires such as hangi. Maraekakaho, Crownthorpe, Waimarama, Ocean Beach and Putorino were the areas worst affected.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who chaired the drought meeting, said parts of Hawke's Bay were very dry but others were doing well. A total ban would follow if the hot, dry conditions continued, Mr Hawke said.
Farmers were making use of their experience of recent droughts and selling off stock if they were short of feed.
"The worst areas are Mahia and parts of Central Hawke's Bay," he said.
Last year had been financially bad but recent price rises had helped, he said. "If they haven't got green grass then surplus lambs should go," Mr Yule said.
"You have to go back to 1914 to find a drier spring," Mr Wyn-Harris said.
Takapau farmer Steve Wyn-Harris, who keeps comprehensive rain records, said his area had received a total of 78 millimetres of rain over September, October and November. . "But it's patchy there were some thunderstorms in Central Hawke's Bay and some people got the rain, some didn't

.
Safety plea on foreign drivers

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

Acoroner is calling for special road markings and fluorescent warning stickers in rental vehicles to prevent tourists driving on the wrong side of the road.
But the mother of a man killed when an American driver crossed the centre-line says it is the tourists who have to take more responsibility. "And you can't change the habits of a lifetime. "People get off a plane and get straight into a car without even knowing the road rules," Sally Beard said yesterday. ."
Her son, Kylie, 26, was travelling with his partner and his two-year-old daughter in a Subaru Legacy when it was struck by the tourist's Maui rental van near Nelson in November 2005.
In a ruling issued yesterday, coroner Ian Smith reiterated calls from the dead man's family to improve foreign driver education and for fluorescent "Keep left" warning signs to be displayed prominently in all rental vehicles.
American tourist Jess Fronckowiak had already pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing injury, was ordered to pay $10,000 and had left New Zealand before Mr Beard died. At present, all cat's eyes are either white or yellow.
Mr Smith said reflector cat's eyes, which glow red when seen by vehicles on the wrong side of the road, should be installed on New Zealand roads.
Figures from 2004 showed that five of the 46 deaths involving overseas drivers, and 91 of the 1193 injuries, were caused by cars being driven on the wrong side of the road, Mr Smith said.
He also called for Parliament to review driving laws after police confirmed that careless driving causing injury carried the same weight as careless driving causing death.
The agency would also be reviewing licensing rules for overseas drivers next year, including tightening rules for gaining a New Zealand licence which is compulsory for people who have stayed in the country for more than a year.
There were no warning stickers in Fronckowiak's rental van, but the Transport Agency said that, since the accident, officials had been working with rental companies to ensure they were used. They need to take more responsibility.
But Mr Beard's mother said that was irrelevant: "Tourists should be more prepared, maybe have to sit a test before they come here.
"He's gone happily on his way and we're the ones with the life sentence."
Mrs Beard said Kylie's death had devastated the family and, even though it was an accident, they still felt Fronckowiak had walked free."
Transport Agency central operations manager Mark Owen said the coroner's recommendations on cat's eyes would be investigated. Nothing will bring Kylie back, but we want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce is awaiting a briefing next year on road safety measures and what can be done to improve them

.
Inquest into six trawler deaths abandoned

By DYLAN THORNE – Wednesday, 10 December 2008

A Southland coroner has decided not to resume an inquest into the deaths of six people in the sinking of Bluff trawler Kotuku in 2006. .
In a decision released yesterday, Mr Savage acknowledges the capsize of the Kotuku, with the loss of six lives, was New Zealand's largest maritime disaster since the sinking of the Wahine and deserved public scrutiny.
The coroner adjourned the inquest in May 2006 after learning independent investigations were being carried out.
However, he says that scrutiny had been applied through inquiries and subsequent reports by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) and Maritime New Zealand and it is not in the public interest that it be relitigated at a resumed inquest.
Mr Savage does clarify that one of those on board, Ian "Shorty" Hayward, 52, died from drowning and hypothermia, consistent with cold-water immersion, rather than just cold water immersion as noted in a pathologist's report.
The TAIC report accepted the Kotuku capsized after being hit by two waves and, while the Maritime report had a different emphasis, the two were consistent and the coroner was satisfied matters such as the identity of those who died and and cause of death had been established, the decision says.
The only real question related to whether the circumstances of the deaths had been adequately established in the reports, the decision says.
Tests carried out to assess the boat's stability after it was recovered were inconclusive but TAIC found the general condition of the hull was substandard and it should not have passed a survey inspection.
Two issues highlighted in the inquiries were the stability of the Kotuku and the condition of its hull and fastenings.
Maritime New Zealand merely stated what the evidence of the surveyor and the skipper was and made no finding of its own.
However, it did not make a finding that that contributed to the accident, the decision says.
Both reports referred to actions already taken as a result of the tragedy and made extensive safety recommendations so there was no reason to hold and inquest for the purposes of making recommendations, the decision says.
Despite this, matters could be deemed to be adequately established if proper consideration was given to all evidence, even if that resulted in a conclusion that it was not possible to make definitive findings, the decision says.
Family members of those who died in the sinking could not be contacted for comment yesterday, but Mr Savage's decision notes they did not want the inquest to be held.
Family members of those who died in the sinking could not be contacted for comment yesterday, but Mr Savage's decision notes they did not want the inquest to be held.

.
"You would have been asking a generalised body to review the work of a specialist organisation," he said

.
Air New Zealand crash: Final victim named

06.10PM By STAFF REPORTERS – Friday, 28 November 2008

AFP
RECOVERY: Rescuers recover the body of the one crew member recovered from the sea.

AFP
Rescuers at work in the recovery of the victims of the Airbus A320 crash off the coast of France.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe talks to the media at a press conference held after an Air NZ A320 plane crashed off the coast of France.

THE AVIATION HERALD
AIRLINER DOWN: The approximate position of the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus A320 jet.

Photo 5 of 5

Air NZ crash update

Key offers support

Eerie echo of Erebus

: Air NZ boss takes questions

: Air NZ crash

Eyewitness account

Airbus A320 ‘reliable’

LATEST: Officials have named the fifth Kiwi presumed dead after today's Air New Zealand airbus crash off the coast of France.

HORROR SMASH: An Air New Zealand A320 – seen here in a file pic – has crashed in Southern France.
He is Noel Marsh, a 35-year-old engineer based in Christchurch. They were: Captain Brian Horrell, 52,of Auckland; Murray White,37, engineer, ofAuckland;Michael Gyles,49, engineer,of Christchurch.
The announcementfollows the namingof three Air New Zealand workers also killed in the crash.
Seven people – including two German pilots – were onboard the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 when it crashed into the Mediterranean, just off Perpignan in southeast France, about 4.
Earlier officials namedthe Civil Aviation Authority inspector on the flight as Jeremy Cook. It had beenon a test flight – involving several manoeuvres – ahead of a return to New Zealand.45am (NZ time) today.
French daily Le Monde reported three bodies had been found.
French daily Le Monde reported three bodies had been found.
"The CAA will continue to provide Jeremy's wife, family and friends with support now and in the future.
In a statement released this evening,the acting Director of Civil Aviation, Graeme Harris, said allauthority staff members were shocked and saddened by the accident.
"Jeremy is a popular engineer, respected and liked by all in the aviation industry. The CAA extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends to all those missing in this accident."
Mr Cookjoined the Civil Aviation Authority as an Airworthiness Inspector in April 2005. An aviation enthusiast, he has had a long career dedicated to enhancing aviation safety standards, and this accident has affected all within the CAA and the aviation industry.
Earlier in the day,a choked up Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfetold a press conference this afternoon thathe had spoken to the partners of each of the missing men. A Licensed Maintenance Engineer with an extensive background in aircraft maintenance, his career included time with Air Niugini in Papua New Guinea, Ansett New Zealand, and with the Christchurch Engine Centre. I conveyed to them my deepest sympathies and those of all Air New Zealanders as we await further information on their loved ones.
"This is an unbelievably difficult time for the families of those who are missing."
While Air New Zealand still held out hope for survivors, rescuers had told them they had grave concerns for those on board, he said."
While Air New Zealand still held out hope for survivors, rescuers had told them they had grave concerns for those on board, he said.
"It's very difficult for them as they wait for information on their loved ones. My heart goes out to them. They're dealing with the situation with amazing dignity and strength," Mr Fyfe said.
He said Air New Zealand would spare no expense in supporting the families.
Fyfe, who said today was the toughest of his career,will travel to France later today with the family of at least one of the Kiwi victims. Other families are considering their options.
Air New Zealand deputy chief executive Norm Thompson left for France about midday. England-based Air New Zealand management were also en route.
The deputy chief investigator of the Transport Air Investigation Commission, Ken Mathews, will head to the crash site to support the French investigation. Two officials from the NZ Embassy in Paris are also en route.
The airline has asked the media to respect the families' privacy and a security guard has been placed outside the Gyles' home in the Christchurch hill suburb of Cashmere.
CRASH WITNESS
The plane was seen flying low over the French Mediterranean shortly before the crash. It had taken off from Perpignan Airport and had reportedly carried out a touch-and-go landing beforeheading for Frankfurt, Germany, when it plunged into the sea.
Lydie Benedicte, who works on the information desk at Perpignan Airport, told ABC radio that the plane had dipped down into the sea very quickly.
"The aircraft crashed direct,'' she told the station. "It's not far from the airport. That's why the aircraft was not very high in the sky … that's why a lot of people saw the crash near the coast of Cannes.''
SEARCH
Jean Dunyach, head of Civil Security at the Prefecture in Perpignan, told that the search for survivorswould resume at 5amlocal time (5pm today, NZ time) when specialist divers would be sent in.
“Unfortunately, the conditions are very difficult, it is raining, there are 30kms of wind with big waves and operations have been complicated further because it is now dark,” he said in a telephone interview.
The water temperature in the area was believed to be about 13C.
He did not believe there were any survivors. The bodies already recovered had been transferred to the morgue at Perpignan Hospital, where a member of the French Transport Ministry, Dominique Bussereau, was expected tomorrow.
“It is a difficult night for the rescuers … the remaining bodies may well be in pieces.”
Mr Dunyach said the maximum had been done to locate the missing crew members, with five rescue boats, 17 specialised divers, a helicopter and a search aeroplane scouring the scene. Thirty divers were expected tomorrow when he hoped the black box would be retrieved from the wrecked aircraft, currently 40m underwater.
He said the New Zealand and German embassies had been told of the accident and families were being informed.
"It is too early to speculate about the reasons for the crash, only the black box can tell us."
There was a strong feeling of solidarity amongst the local fishermen from the Le Cannet en Roussillon area, as they had been asked to help in the rescue effort.
Better weather was forecast for Friday (French time), and although some were quite shocked by what had happened they were only too happy to lend assistance, he said.
"There was no explosion, it was flying (at) 300m and suddenly fell down into the sea, but no explosion."
There were many witnesses, and emergency services were quickly at the scene.
Some wreckage was floating on the surface, but the pieces were "very difficult to find as a result of the big waves and the dark".
SOMBRE MOOD
The mood at Air New Zealand and CAA headquarters in Wellington was sombre today, as staff waited for news from France.
The aircraft was owned by Air New Zealand and had been on lease to German charter company XL Airways for the past two years. It was four years old when delivered and had flown for Freedom Air for about a year before being leased.
Fyfe said it was being flown to Frankfurt, where it was due to be handed back for a ferry flight to New Zealand this week.
"Naturally, this is an extremely difficult time for us all and the full resources of the airline are being put into investigating what may have happened and providing support to our people and their families," he said.
Fyfe said Air New Zealand was drawing on the experiences of other airlines that had been in similar situations before.
The Air New Zealand pilot on the flight was a very experienced captain, "which is typically what we want when we are going through one of these acceptance processes. We have our most experienced people ensuring the aircraft is up to Air New Zealand standards". .
The crash comes 29 years to the day that an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 passengers and crew.
Mr Fyfe said that today was already very poignant for Air New Zealand as a result of the Erebus tragedy, and the anniversary added a new dimension to the tragedy.
AIRBUS
The jet had been undergoing servicing at EAS Industries in Perpignan and flying circuits for 90 minutes before it crashed, an emergency services spokesperson said.
Six French aviation accident investigators and two from Germany were being sent to help an inquiry with experts from the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) and Airbus.
Airbus said it delivered the jet in July 2005 and it had carried out 2800 flights with about 7000 hours of use since then. The constructor gave no details of the accident.
There are about 3700 A320 jets in service with almost 3000 more to be delivered. Air New Zealand own two Airbus aircraft, and lease 10.
Their average age is four years, and they seat about 150 passengers.
– with agencies

.
Serious injuries in Wellington fire

Thursday, 13 November 2008

JESS MCKEOWN
HOUSE FIRE: One person has been taken to hospital after a fire in central Wellington’s Tasman St late last night. Fire officers have begun investigating the blaze.
Five fire engines rushed to the house in Mt Cook's Ranfurly Terrace about 11.

Up to 18 fire fighters battled a house fire in central Wellington for more than an hour, which left a female occupant with burns and other serious injuries.
A fire spokeswoman said it took nearly two hours to bring the blaze under control and fire services were still at the scene this morning.30pm last night to find the building already engulfed in flames.
The woman, who was the sole occupant, suffered burns among other serious injuries and was taken to Hutt Hospital. Fire officers did not yet know what caused the blaze.

.