Shark oil factory gutted
A LARGE engineering workshop, a factory that produces shark oil for cosmetics, and a helicopter base at Neils Beach, Jackson Bay, that were burnt to the ground yesterday will be rebuilt, their owner says.
The buildings were owned by Barn Bay Fishing Company and Greenstone Helicopters owner Geoff Robson.
Yesterday, Mr Robson’s son, Michael, said the building was insured and would be rebuilt, although he had not yet had time to work out how shark oil processing would be carried out in the mean time.
The alarm was raised shortly before 9am, but by the time a fire crew arrived from their Haast base, about 50km to the north, the workshophanger had been totally destroyed.
Fifteen hundred litres of shark oil, which was destined for Melbourne where it would be used for lipstick, went up in smoke or drained away.
The fire also claimed a Hughes 500 helicopter.
A Neils Beach resident a few hundred metres from the adjacent airstrip got a phone call from the Haast police shortly before 9am to see if they could confirm a fire in thearea.
Lynda Hewer said one look out her kitchen window confirmed the building was engulfed in smoke and flames.
The hanger was built to the side of a private airstrip, and the building was about 100m long and 30m wide.
Mrs Hewer described ‘‘absolutely massive black smoke’’ and loud bangs as the fire took hold.
Greymouth police confirmed the building possibly held firearms and ammunition.
Another helicopter, a Robin son 44, which had been used by police in the past couple of days in the search for the missing Greymouth fishermen after a fishing boat tragedy, had apparently not long left the hangar before the fire.
‘‘They’ve lost their Barn Bay Fishing shed and I understand they’ve lost a 500,’’ Mrs Hewer said. ‘‘It’s a big fire for a little place. It’s a real shame.’’
Mrs Hewer said the fire was a total surprise.
‘‘The first I knew was when the phone went. It was the local policeman. I just looked out the window and there was all this black smoke.’’
Mrs Hewer said a Neils Beach resident only known as Colin was lucky to escape the fire as he lived in a hut right next to the workshop complex. He had apparently been oblivious to the fire until Michael Robson burst in, telling him to get out.
‘‘Apparently, he was on his computer, not knowing what was happening.’’
Haast volunteer firefighters put out the blaze and dampened down the building remains. Mrs Hewer said it was lucky the fire crew had managed to protect fuel storage tanks at the site by wetting them down.
‘‘The shed is a total loss. There’s still a few fuel tanks still. They’re OK. It could have been a lot worse.’’
A Fire Service inspector flew to the scene yesterday and expected to begin an immediate investigation in conjunction with police already there.
Geoff Robson is overseas.
— Greymouth Star, additional reporting Mark Price
DIVERS have recovered the body of one of the Greymouth fishermen missing since their boat, Wendy J, sank in a storm south of Jackson Bay last Thursday.
Police said today the body was recovered on Tuesday afternoon by the police national dive squad near the wreckage of
Wendy J, during the ongoing search for Jay Cairney and Kieran Lynch.
The search continues for the other body.
In a statement, Sergeant Mathew Tailby, of Greymouth police, said the body recovered had not been formally identified, and police were still in discussion with the families of the missing men concerning that.
‘‘A search of other areas of interest around the bay has failed to locate the second missing man,’’ Mr Tailby said.
Skipper Mark Thomas was rescued from rocks in the Cascade area, about 8km south of where the boat apparently sank, at Smoothwater Bay, six days ago.
Further searches of the shoreline and tracks by volunteers on the ground on Tuesday revealed no further sign of the remaining missing crew member.
Mr Tailby said the search until yesterday had focused on the shoreline, using drift projections produced by the Rescue Coordination Centre, in conjunction with local knowledge of the area.
These areas were expanded to include the remote country nearby and specific seabed areas, he said.
‘‘Sadly, police have reached the point where the search has exhausted these areas without any sign of the missing man.’’
However, the dive squad would attempt to complete their search today, depending on the weather.
Senior Sergeant Paul Watson said the police search team was yesterday morning assessing the viability of undertaking further diving, but with a weather change expected for the worse there would be only a narrow chance.