“We didn’t realise how close we came to disaster.”

When Emily and her partner bought a character 1920s home in Wellington, they didn’t realise the risk hidden above their baby’s new bedroom.

It had four chimneys, three had been taken down to roof level by previous owners, but one still stood.

“It was connected to a modern wood burner and looked fine, so we didn’t think too much about it,” says Emily. “We weren’t big fire users, but it was nice to have it.”

It was just past midnight, November 14 in 2016, when the Kaikōura earthquake struck. Wellington was over 200km away from the epicentre of the quake, but at magnitude 7.8 its impact was strongly felt in the city.

The couple were shaken awake, “that earthquake went on for a really long time,” she remembers, but their children slept right through.  

“We’d checked on the kids, and were sitting there a bit stunned, listening to the radio and checking for news around the country, when there was a banging on our front door.

“These guys from next door were standing there, they said, ‘Have you seen your chimney?!’ We went out and saw it had fallen. Completely collapsed. We’d had no idea.”  

The chimney had been on the external wall right next to their baby’s cot. It had fallen alongside the house and ripped off part of the roof, narrowly missing their baby’s room.

“If it had fallen a different way, it would’ve crushed our son.”  

We were incredibly lucky - it tore part of the roof off, brushed the heat pump and came to rest beside the gas mains, but only the roof was damaged.”

It took months to find an available builder to do the repairs, and when he came to assess the damage, they were told the remaining parts of the chimney were unstable and it was too dangerous to use.

“We’d assumed it was safe because it had a modern flue. But the original chimney structure was still there, old and unsupported.  

The couple had the builders take the whole chimney down, and they installed other heating. “It was super quick to have it done, and I honestly felt so much better after the chimney was gone.”  

“We know we live in a risky country, but we kind of hope it will never happen. I feel like we were so lucky in this earthquake, it could have been devastating.

"We all need to do what we can to remove those risks. If I were buying an older house again, checking the chimney would be the first thing I’d do. Anything above the roofline is a risk, it’s worth budgeting to get it removed for safety.”

Creating a safer space for your child starts in their room

Babies and toddlers can’t drop, cover and hold during a quake - so their room needs to do the protecting for them. 
Start with the small things:

• Move cots or beds away from windows, where broken glass could cause harm
• Keep walls above sleeping areas clear.
• Secure tall furniture to wall studs with brackets or straps
• Move heavy items to lower shelves
• If drawers or wardrobes are within reach, add childproof latches to stop contents flying out during shaking
• And if the cot has castors, lock them, so it doesn’t move around in a quake

Then look at the bigger picture

Once you’ve made your child’s room safer, take a wider look around your home.

If you live in an older house and still have a brick or concrete masonry chimney, even if the burner has been replaced, it’s worth checking whether it’s reinforced, securely connected to your home, or showing signs of damage like cracks or leaning.  

Talk to a licensed building practitioner if you’re unsure about your chimney’s condition. In most cases, removing the part above the roofline will significantly reduce the risk.

“Protecting your child’s room is a great start, but for us, the danger was just above it.”

- Emily, Wellington