Following a tragic house fire in Palmerston North, nine people have died in house fires in the past two months.
It's a horrifying statistic, made worse by the fact that every single fatality occurred in a house without a working smoke detector.
Houses with working detectors have claimed no lives in the event of a fire.
As it is, police have been working tirelessly to secure the scene of the Palmerston North address where a grandmother and a six-year-old girl have died.
Five people remain in hospital and one has been discharged following the fire early this morning.
Fire Service area commander Esitone Pauga says there were no installed smoke alarms in the house, but firefighters found a box of them in a cupboard.
