An Omokoroa couple were woken by firefighters on Friday evening after a firework shot onto the roof sparked a fire in their home.

The sound of the Omokoroa volunteer firefighters breaking their way into the smoke logged house woke the occupants who were sleeping on the upper level about 9.30pm.

An Omokoroa couple were sleeping when a firework on the roof of their home sparked a fire.

Fire Safety Officer John Rewi says the fire was caused by a firework lodging in the roof, which burned through the building paper and into the timber.

Neighbours alerted the fire brigade, and by the time the Omokoroa volunteers arrived the fire had gotten into an internal wall, says John.

'The owner wasn't aware of anything until the firefighters broke into his house,” says John.

'They broke a glass door. They couldn't see anybody in the place, it was smoke logged through the lounge, they thought they had better get inside. The owner heard the smash and got up.”

John says the occupants were very lucky. Their smoke alarm had a flat battery and there was already smoke inside the house.

A lounge on the bedroom level was smoke logged and the bedroom was on the same level as the fire.

'In a place as big as that, you should have a smoke alarm on every level,” says John.

'With four levels, it's quite a decent sized house.”

Today he's praising the efforts of the Omokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade, who were on the scene quickly and took effective action.

'We had a good save,” says Omokoroa chief fire officer Ian Blunt.

'The owner was actually asleep and we had to wake him up. They were oblivious to the fact that it was on fire.

'It was a difficult place to get to, a difficult driveway difficult to get the truck up there, difficult to get the hoses up there, and a good effort by all the guys.”

Another couple of minutes and the house would have been fully involved, says Ian.

The outside of the house suffered some damage near the seat of the fire, and there is some internal smoke and water damage.

The Western Bay Moana Rural Fire District which includes Omokoroa, is under a restricted fire season, meaning that people intending to let off fireworks need a permit.

People who start light fires or set off fireworks during the restricted season can be charged with a criminal offense and be held liable for the damage they cause, says principle rural fire officer Barry Low.