Blaze destroys a lifetime of work

"I was out here all day, every day. It's all gone." John Bramley

John Bramley woke to loud banging on his front door early in the morning after a rural postie noticed a fire on his property.

As the Palmerston North man ambled out of bed and walked down his hallway, he saw a red glow erupting from his woodturning shed outside.

His 50 years of woodturning work and all the equipment he used to make it was gone. ’’There’s not much we could do. We couldn’t get into it.’’

Bramley said he was grateful for the postman’s warning, about 5am on Saturday, as he, his wife, their son and grandson kept clear of the blaze.

Four fire engines and two rural tankers controlled the flames, which were extinguished by 9am. However, watching his shed, showroom and much-loved wooden items burn to ash was ‘‘devastating’’.

Although Bramley had lived at the Roberts Line property for about 30 years, he said he had about 50 years’ worth of equipment in his shed.

Almost everything was destroyed in the blaze. ‘‘I was out here all day, every day. It’s all gone.’’

Bramley said he was initially worried about Moose, his chocolate labrador which slept on a couch in the shed. The couch was nothing but ash, but Moose had escaped the fire and spent the morning at the neighbours. He was returned to Bramley and his family later that morning.

Fire Service assistant area commander Scott Bell said the fire was well alight when crews arrived on Saturday morning. Crews stayed at the property and turned over smouldering material until about 11am.

Fire investigators analysed the scene, but the extensive damage caused to the building meant it was too hard to determine the cause, he said.

Although there was no official cause, it was possible the fire could have been started by an electrical fault, he said.

A police spokeswoman said police did not attend the fire on Saturday.

Because of the dust from his woodturning, Bramley said even a spark could have started a fire and ‘‘away she went’’.

Although he was upset at losing his work, wood, shed and equipment, he was grateful his dog escaped and that his house did not catch fire.

The blaze spread to the car port on the property, but fire crews stopped it from spreading to the house, which was just metres away. ‘‘We’ve got to have a bit of luck somewhere.’’

Bramley also thanked the postie for raising the alarm.

Although devastated, he said would continue his favourite hobby of woodturning and hopefully rebuild a small showroom on the site.