Occupants were four times more likely to survive a house fire if they had working smoke alarms, so the alarms on Aerodrome Rd did their job saving lives, Sinclair said. “The room wasn’t filled with smoke when they went off, so they picked [the fire] up early.” However, firefighters found the second house, which caught fire in on Monday, did not have working smoke alarms. Firefighters from Dannevirke and Norsewood arrived at Victor St just after 11.10am to find a home well-alight, Fire and Emergency spokesman David Meikle said. Later in the day an investigator was at the scene.