Teen was on phone speaking to emergency services

A 16-year-old girl killed in a house fire in Canterbury called emergency services from inside the home, but was unable to escape.

Her call was the reason the first firefighters to arrive knew she was trapped. However, the intensity of the blaze meant they could not reach her.

Her body was later found in a bedroom. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) is defending the 11 minutes it took for volunteer firefighters to arrive, saying it met established targets.

Fenz was alerted to the blaze near the Burnham Military Camp, near Christchurch, about 2.10am on Wednesday.

Stuff understands the teenage girl was able to call emergency services from inside the home and had been speaking to them.

Three others got out of the house via either the front door or a fire escape at the back.

Yesterday, Detective Sergeant Brent Menzies confirmed the fire was not suspicious.

“This is obviously a huge tragedy for the young woman’s family.

“We are working, along with Victim Support, to support them as best we can at this difficult time.”

A Givealittle page for the family said the girl’s mother “supported her family in any way she could”.

She was involved in many sporting and schooling events in the community, the page said.

“She can be counted on to fight for her community and now its our turn to support her.

Many of her family, work colleagues, neighbours, friends and the wider community have all been affected by this loss, so we ask you all to look after yourselves as there is a long road ahead in the grieving and healing process.”

Fenz incident controller Dave Berry earlier confirmed to Stuff the Burnham Military

Camp fire station was unmanned on Tuesday night when the fire broke out.

The first station to attend was from Rolleston. He said it was “unlikely” having the Burnham station manned would have made a difference, as when the calls first came in the reports were that the house was “well involved”.

By the time Berry arrived, the fire was so strong that firefighters were not able to enter for about two hours. They then found the teenage girl in one of the bedrooms.

A New Zealand Defence Force spokesperson earlier told Stuff that Rolleston Fire Station firefighters were the first to arrive on the scene at 2.23am, 11 minutes after receiving the call to attend.

“The Burnham Military Camp Fire Master responded in a command vehicle, which has no fire suppression capability, and arrived on the scene at 2.40am.”

Since January this year the Burnham Military Fire Station had been operating at reduced capacity, providing coverage between 8am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

“This is in part due to the need to provide staff respite, and because of low Emergency Responder staffing levels.”

The decision to operate on reduced coverage was consulted on, and supported by Fenz area commanders, the spokesperson said.

“The Memorandum of Understanding between the NZDF and Fenz ensures that Fenz provides coverage during periods of reduced NZDF coverage, such as [Wednesday] morning.

“The Burnham Emergency Response Troop maintains the capacity to support a local Fenz response to major events and/or emergencies for discrete periods, such as during the response to the Port Hills fires earlier this year. That response was supported by two NZDF Rural Fire Appliances, and up to six firefighters rotating on a daily basis.”

Yesterday, a Fenz spokesman said the 11 minutes it took the first fire engine to arrive met Fenz’s target response time of 11 minutes for a volunteer brigade to attend a structure fire. “As with any fire of this nature, we will undertake operational debriefs with our crews.”

For privacy reasons, Fenz would not be releasing any information about 111 calls.