Suspicious fire at ex-hospital site
A fire that broke out at the old Barrett St hospital in New Plymouth is being treated as suspicious.
Four fire trucks were sent to the scene at 8.30am yesterday and smoke could be seen pouring out of doors and windows of the old nurses’ home.
The building is the only one on the 7.62 hectare site which is protected as a Class A heritage site.
The rest of the hospital is undergoing asbestos removal in preparation for demolition.
Senior station officer at the New Plymouth fire department, Nick Burke, said the fire had likely been burning for quite some time before fire crews arrived.
‘‘Fortunately it hadn’t spread to the rest of the building, or other buildings in the complex.’’
Burke said the fire’s origins were suspicious and the incident had been passed over to fire safety and to police.
Contractors are currently on site at the complex removing asbestos so the land can be cleared and sold, with Te Atiawa iwi having first right of refusal.
The hospital grounds are private property and no members of the public are allowed on or into the site.
* Meanwhile, a Taranaki householder was lucky not to to burn down their home when they used a plastic bucket to move hot embers from their fireplace.
Although the bucket was placed outside, it was too close to the Waitara property - and when the plastic melted the heat began to set fire to the building’s foundations, filling the rooms above with smoke.
To make matters worse for the luckless householder, fire officers who raced to the scene shortly before 8.30pm on Tuesday found the property had no working smoke alarm.
‘‘The situation could have been much worse. The flames caught fire to the foundation, but little damage was done,’’ firefighter Blake Marston said.
‘‘We just want to remind people to dispose of embers in a noncombustible container and place it far from the home.’’ New Plymouth’s multi-million dollar remand centre is set to increase its operating hours as the country’s prison population continues to rise.
The $5 million centre, which has 12 double bunked cells, was opened in 2013 inside the city’s $12 million new police station.
It is currently operated five days a week, but the Department of Corrections has announced it would increase the operating hours to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to cope with New Zealand’s rising prison population.
New Plymouth’s prison, which was the country’s oldest operational facility, was closed in 2013 as it had reached the end of its life after more than 140 years.
Police welcomed the increased operating hours of the remand centre as the combined $17m facility was proving successful.
Acting area commander Inspector Belinda Dewar said it was a working example of the Government’s Better Public Services strategy and it demonstrated how through collaboration, agencies could provide better services to the community.
‘‘One of the significant benefits is safety, not only of the corrections and police staff but also for the detainees as it has created a safer environment.’’
Paul Tomlinson, Lower North regional commissioner, said the country’s prison population has exceeded 9500 for the first time and corrections had worked with unions to explore options to increase capacity.
‘‘After careful consideration, it was agreed to increase capacity at four prisons – Arohata Prison, Whanganui Prison, Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison and Christchurch Men’s Prison, while making changes to the remand centre in New Plymouth.’’
Tomlinson said increasing the hours at the remand centre by the end of this year would help ease pressure on other facilities.
The changes would also require extra staff as security, staff safety and prisoner welfare had been a central consideration, he said.
‘‘As a result of this we will be recruiting additional staff required to enable Corrections to operate the facility full-time.
Additional facilities including exercise yards, day rooms, storage and showers would also be built where needed to meet the requirements of the growing population.
Corrections would continuing to look at other options to ensure it could accommodate future increases.
‘‘We are experienced in managing a fluctuating prisoner population, and we’re confident we can implement practical solutions to address the immediate and longterm capacity demands.’’