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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Intensity of house fire still with victim
A Dunedin man seriously burned in a ferocious house fire says his family had a minute to escape the inferno "or we would have all been gone". Luke Chapman was woken at 3am after hearing a "crash" and "bang" in his home in Allandale Rd, St Clair. The sound was a roaring fire smashing his windows and engulfing a wall. He yelled for his two adult children to get out and, 10 minutes later, the house was fully engulfed in flames. "One more minute and we would have all been gone," he said. By morning, the home was a total loss — as well as everything inside it. At the fire's peak, 26 firefighters were battling it. Three weeks on, Mr Chapman said he was "in awe" of the generosity of the Dunedin community. "The generosity of the community and how quickly they jumped to task was so humbling — everything from clothing through to a house was offered." A Givealittle page was set up for Mr Chapman and his family, and the funds raised were going towards supporting them day to day. Mr Chapman, who works for Allied Press, said fire was a "beast", and warned that it was a lot more intense, fast-moving and dangerous than many people thought. "The fire bit me for less than a second, yet I ended up with second-degree burns, seven days in hospital. Most of my back's all chewed to pieces and disfigured for whoever knows how long. "It was less than a second of exposure to the radiant heat. I didn't even touch the flames." Burns covered 18% of his body — if it had been 20%, he would have been sent to the burns unit in Christchurch. His injuries were "evolving burns", which meant they got worse in the first week before beginning to heal. Losing all his possessions was also something he had to come to terms with. "Even simple things ... like our cars were in the driveway, but all the keys melted with the house, so we had to get all new keys cut — all little things that are now all gone." Videotapes with his children's first moments were burnt, but luckily a hard drive of family photos had been left at work earlier that week. However, at the moment, Mr Chapman was "nobody", as all his formal identification was destroyed. "We keep all the passports and the birth certificates in a safe drawer on the desk in the hallway, supposedly to grab on the way out when there's a fire — doing that didn't even cross my mind. It was 'let's just get out of here'." He suggested people store identification in a fireproof safe, because it was "very, very difficult" to get new identification. The house had working smoke alarms, but he did not notice if they activated in the rush to escape. Fire investigator Scottie Cameron said the the cause of the fire had been determined and the blaze was being classed as accidental. Mr Chapman's burns were now healing well, and slowly things were falling into place. "The nightmares that I have is if I had woken up one minute later, the house would have been full of smoke and there would have been flames everywhere. "It would have been a totally different kind of fire."
Otago Daily Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Farewell to a friend and colleague
She'll take the high road for a bit, and we'll take the low road. But we'll be together again, and our love will get us through to that day. That's a paraphrasing of words written by former Allied Press journalist, Louise Scott-Gallagher, 44, who died at home surrounded by family in Queenstown on May 20. Speaking at Louise's funeral service at the Queenstown Polo Ground on Sunday, friend Sarah Taylor recounted how Louise had comforted her with those words after the death of Sarah's mother. Now they offer comfort to her former colleagues at the Mountain Scene and Otago Daily Times. They will also comfort the many Queenstowners who were touched by Louise's warmth, empathy and sense of fun — and her lilting Northern Irish accent — as she went about her work as a reporter here between 2014 and 2018. Although she took up the regions editor role with the ODT in Dunedin, she continued to spend much of her time in the resort. That was because by then she was sharing a home with her future husband, Craig Gallagher — they'd met in 2017 when she interviewed him in his capacity as co-organiser of charity boxing event Thriller in the Chiller. The girl from Gillygooley, County Tyrone, had found her forever home in Queenstown with her dream man. However, in 2023, their lives were turned upside down. After finding a lump on her breast while 11 weeks' pregnant with their daughter, Lily, Louise was diagnosed with cancer. Despite an immediate mastectomy and subsequent chemotherapy, she was told last April the tumours in her body had grown and multiplied. Her overriding wish became to live long enough for Lily to remember her. She did not want her tragic family history to repeat. Her mother, Anne, had died from breast cancer at 34 — leaving four young children behind — when Louise was 3 years old. Louise and Craig began planning a wedding for later this year, but after learning three weeks ago that her treatment wasn't working, they brought those plans forward. They were married at home, in front of family and close friends, last Monday. Louise passed away peacefully the next day. At Sunday's celebration of Louise's life, friend Josie Spillane described her as the "best mum on the planet" and a woman who lived for her family and friends. A lover of parties and banter, she was a "singer, always the first on the dance floor, and often the last one home". A collector of friends around the world, her exceptional empathy meant she was the first to provide comfort and care at times of need. A prolific cook, she was a "feeder — that's how she showed love". The doting aunt of eight also showered affection on the children of friends and colleagues. Spillane recounted what Louise had written about her predicament a year ago. "I promise I'm going to confront this head-on, but while I'm doing that, I'm going to make every second count with Craig and Lily. "I live in hope, and genuinely believe a positive attitude and outlook can help, but most of all, I live every day surrounded by love and surrounded by my friends and extended families at home and our Kiwi families here in New Zealand. "They give us so much support, and I thank you for everyone."
