Airbnb blaze prompts warnings

The tourism industry says a fire in a Christchurch Airbnb property is a wake-up call for accommodation providers and guests.

Six members of a Malaysian family of 10 were taken to hospital after fire broke out in the threestorey Airbnb rental on Sunday night.

Chief executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa Chris Roberts said it was a reminder that peer-topeer rentals - including Airbnb, holiday homes, and driveway campervan sites - did not have to have fire escapes and other fire safety measures that were compulsory for commercial operators.

Fire safety investigators are treating the Sumner blaze as accidental, but have not revealed the cause.

Airbnb, which has 29,000 listed properties in New Zealand, said it had provided the Malaysian family with two nights hotel accommodation.

An Airbnb spokesman said safety was of ‘‘the utmost importance’’ to the organisation and incidents were extremely rare.

Hosts were encouraged to install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, and emergency safety cards with information about evacuation routes, fire extinguishers and emergency service numbers.

Bookabach general manager Peter Miles, who lists 12,000 holiday homes on his website, said he expected properties to be ‘‘up to code’’ with smoke alarms, and the company monitored occupancy levels.

‘‘If we’ve got a three-bedroom place that says it sleeps 16, we would question that.’’

Hospitality New Zealand accommodation spokesperson Rachael Shadbolt said the Christchurch blaze reinforced long-held industry concerns about the need for proper fire standards.

‘‘We’re not out to ping people who rent out their baches occasionally ... if you’re making a living [out of Airbnb], you should be paying commercial rates and adhering to the regulations commercial accommodation providers have to adhere to.’’

Monitoring occupancy levels was also difficult when the owner was not on site, said Shadbolt.