Fire debris from derelict houses creates new danger
Debris left after two abandoned coastal properties burned to the ground poses a real danger and must be cleaned up before it washes into the sea, locals say.
On Friday morning, about 2.40am, the privately owned but unoccupied buildings at the end of Turangi Rd Lower, Motunui in north Taranaki, were burned to the ground.
Three appliances, 17 firefighters and a water tanker were needed to tend to the early morning blaze, the cause of which remains under investigation. However, a police spokeswoman said the early indications were that it was not suspicious.
Prior to Friday’s events, nearby residents and members of Ngati Rahiri hapu (who do not own the land or houses but hold mana whenua of the area) raised concerns about the state of the homes, including that they posed a fire risk, along with the fact each had asbestos-contaminated roofs.
Another issue had been the encroaching threat coastal erosion posed to the houses, which at the time of the fire were about a metre away from the cliff’s edge.
There had also been ongoing communication, over several years, between the property owners, including Wellington man Watson Irving, and the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) about the buildings.
NPDC had deemed the two houses unsafe and in the past said both needed work in order to comply with Building Act rules.
Keith Holswich, of Ngati Rahiri, was another to raise concerns about the dwellings, labelling both of them ‘‘health hazards’’. In the wake of Friday’s fire, he said worries about the houses being a risk had been wellfounded and it was a sad end to what had been a longstanding issue.
He visited the site on Saturday and said while the fate of the houses was no longer an issue, the scene still posed a real danger, given the asbestos which had been present along with the unsecured debris.
‘‘We’ve still got the situation that the site needs to be cleaned up before it washes into the sea.’’
He said a ‘‘big wind’’ could easily lift up the remaining sheeting iron as well as stir up the asbestos dust.
Irving, who had inherited one of the Turangi Rd Lower homes from his mother, previously described the fire as devastating and said he would work with NPDC to clear the site.
In an email, NPDC chief operating officer Kelvin Wright said the council was advised on the fire on January 4 and was continuing to talk to the owners of the properties to resolve the situation.
Ironically, at one point a controlled burn had been suggested as a way to deal with the stillstanding homes, but was later ruled out because of the presence of asbestos.