Fire safety investigator Scott Lanouze says the occupants of an Invercargill block of flats are lucky to be safe and sound after a fire in one of the flats on Wednesday.

The Bowmont Street flat fire was reported yesterday morning by neighbours, while the occupants were out,

Three Invercargill fire crews attended and people in the neighbouring flats evacuated.

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Mr Lanouze said the fire would be classified as accidental and it was “fortuitous” that it was caught, everyone could be accounted for and no-one was hurt.

“We are very pleased not to have had a fire death in Southland for a long time,” he said.

The fire originated in a roof space above the kitchen and was an electrical event, with the likely source of ignition around a plug, Mr Lanouze said.

He believed the damage to the flat could be repaired.

Mr Lanouze said people often had no idea an electrical fault was going to happen and he recommended people get electrical issues checked as soon as they arose.

He also reminded people to install working smoke alarms.

“As far as we can ascertain there were no working smoke alarms . . . Working fire alarms save lives. It only takes three minutes [for a house to become fully involved] so you need the assurance of an early warning, you need that to escape safely,” Mr Lanouze said.

He recommended people also build an escape plan, using the tools on the Fire Emergency New Zealand website.

Meanwhile, a house fire in Bruce Street early on Sunday morning is being regarded as suspicious, while investigations are continuing into a vehicle fire on Cunningham Street on Tuesday. No-one was harmed in those fires.