Fire issues identified in safety check

An audit of Loafers Lodge in 2018 identified several fire safety issues, including items stored in fire exit routes, and smoke stop doors wedged open.

Yesterday – a fortnight after a fire killed five people in the Newtown lodge – Wellington City Council issued the 2018 site audit report for the hostel to get its building warrant of fitness.

‘‘During the audit we noted items stored in the egress route. There must be no items stored in an egress route that could obstruct the fire exit or combust in an emergency,’’ the report said.

‘‘Please ensure that these items are removed. We also noted fire/smoke doors wedged open.’’

Council chief planning officer Liam Hodgetts said the the council worked with the building’s owner for the following months. This included issuing a notice to fix issues, and an infringement notice.

Meanwhile, Wellington mayor Tory Whanau’s secret list of highdensity accommodation buildings similar to Loafers Lodge has found 15 in the city that don’t have sprinkler systems.

In the hours after the fire came the revelation that Loafers Lodge, with a 112-person capacity, did not have sprinklers and did not require them. Whanau ordered an urgent review into multistorey, high-density buildings used for commercial accommodation.

The review found 25 Wellington buildings that met the criteria. Twenty-five of those – like Loafers Lodge – had a current building warrant of fitness, while one didn’t need one. Three needed them and did not have them.

Whanau and the council have refused to release that list. It has been requested under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

Her office did yesterday confirm that only 10 of those 25 buildings had sprinkler systems. The Ministry of Social Development, which runs emergency housing, confirmed it had not seen the mayor’s list.

Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge, a former firefighter, said sprinklers did a good job of putting out fires but weren’t the only solutions. Fire cells and doors, as well as good evacuation routes, were ‘‘all part of the equation’’.

‘‘There will always be some buildings that won’t be as good as other buildings.’’

Buildings operated directly by the mission were staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure there was always someone able to raise the alarm if needed.