Major damage after blaze
An early morning fire that ripped through Pukekohe Arcade has left serious concerns over the building’s future.
More than 19 fire crews battled the blaze early on Friday, with flames spreading over two levels of the shopping arcade.
King St and parts of Edinburgh St were closed as fire crews battled to contain the blaze.
Firefighters at the scene were told of the possibility people were still inside the burning building.
However, Pukekohe Chief Fire Officer Scott Darnill confirmed nobody was trapped inside.
Darnill said the fire crew was able to keep the blaze contained to the arcade.
‘‘As you can imagine, in a town like Pukekohe in the main street, all the buildings are linked together so we were pretty lucky we were able to stop the spread of the fire.’’
The building looked to have suffered serious damage, Darnill said.
‘‘Now we go into the fire investigation stage to see what started it... the building is unsafe, so we’ve talked to the property owners and it’s going to be kept secured.’’
A Barfoot and Thompson Pukekohe spokesperson, who managed the arcade building space, said they were still waiting to find out the cause of the fire.
They said seven businesses occupied the building over two levels, in a mix of commercial and residential spaces.
‘‘At this stage, we are waiting on insurance, and the cause... it won’t be opening for a while.’’
Williams Law Pukekohe director and solicitor, Janine Williams, occupies an office on the second level of the arcade.
She was able to go into the building on Friday afternoon take away computers, client files and documents and said the top level had extensive smoke damage.
However, she said significant areas on the ground of level had been completely gutted, with flooring, ceilings and walls all going up in flames.
‘‘You won’t be able to go in the arcade for a long time – I was really quite sad about it really because it’s the loveliest building.’’
Williams said community support had been overwhelming, and she planned to find a way to help those who had suffered major damage to their businesses.
‘‘We’re okay, but I feel for the other businesses, they haven’t come out well from this.’’