The Pala family lost everything when their house was engulfed by fire. But they got out with their lives. The ash from their house was collected and mixed with newspaper ink to create a print run like never before.

Mixing ash into the ink to print newspapers is not an everyday occurrence, but that is exactly what happened today.

If you picked up your New Zealand Herald this morning, the ink used to print the pages contained ash from the Pala family home which was destroyed by fire on May 12.

The New Zealand Fire Service wanted to do something confronting to show the importance of having a working smoke alarm. So not only was The New Zealand Herald printed with ash ink, so were The Dominion Post, Waikato Times, Bay of Plenty Times, Hawke's Bay Today, Taranaki Daily News, The Press, Otago Daily Times and The Southland Times.

MICHAEL BRAID/NZ FIRE SERVICE The Pala family were able to escape their Mangere home as it went up in flames because they had a working smoke alarm.

This is a print run like never before.

The remnants of the Pala family's precious photographs, cherished children's toys, and a collection of handmade tapa cloths now make up the latest news stories.

The Pala family were in their Mangere, Auckland home when it recently went up in flames. Cathylyn heard the house's fire alarm and knew something was up. She checked the oven, and nothing. She then looked down the hallway and saw roaring flames charging towards her. She quickly grabbed the children, 4, 2, and 6-months old, and left.

The New Zealand Fire Service collected ash from this burn site and others from around the country, and mixed it in with the black ink used to print the respective region's June 15 newspapers.

So when Kiwis held their paper this morning, they were holding a piece of a local house, devastated by fire.

Check out #madefromremains to see more about the print run or youronlyvoice.co.nz for more information about smoke alarms.

BY THE NUMBERS

* 3200: Number of house fires every year.

* 80 per cent: Percentage of fires where there is no working smoke alarms.

* 19: Number of people killed in house fires since July 2015.

TIPS

* Regularly check your smoke alarms and their batteries.

* Have an alarm in every bedroom and main living area on every level of a house.

* Have an escape plan in the event of a fire, including a safe place to meet.

* Once out, don't go back inside, even to call 111. Do that from a cellphone or a neighbour's.

* If you leave the kitchen, turn elements off.

* Check on elderly relatives, friends or neighbours and make sure they have working alarms.