‘We were there for a good 41⁄2 hours’

Fire destroys flat attached to Frasertown property after occupants head off for break

"We stopped it getting into the house, but the shed and the little flat inside were destroyed" Wairoa volunteer firefighter chief Grant Duley

Afire destroyed a flat attached to a property near Frasertown in Hawke’s Bay while the occupants were away.

Wairoa volunteer firefighter chief Grant Duley said firefighters reached the blaze at a property along Lake Rd, on the way to Lake Waikaremoana, about 12.30am.

He said a shed and flat attached to the house had gone up in flames.

“We stopped it getting into the house, but the shed and the little flat inside were destroyed.”

He said two trucks, one from Wairoa and one from Nuhaka, attended alongside a tanker from Wairoa and they did not leave until shortly after 5am.

“We were there for a good four, four and a half hours trying to put it out, bring it under control, and start dampening down.”

He said there was no one on the property at the time and fire investigators were on the scene on Friday morning to determine a cause.

He said early indications did not suggest it was a suspicious fire.

He said he had spoken with the owner and had learned the occupants of the property had left to go away for the weekend on Thursday morning.

“Whether it was an electrical fault in the shed, we don’t know, they will hopefully try to find out more.”

He said it was good practice to check and turn off electrical items that could overheat or lead to an electrical fault before going away from home.

“If you are planning to go away for a long weekend or a night or so, turn off most things that don’t require to be left on.”

A police spokesperson said inquiries were ongoing on Friday morning after police responded to a fire on Whirinaki Rd, Eskdale, at around 6.30 pm Wednesday.

The police spokesperson confirmed there was no one inside, and no injuries.

A firefighter from Napier Fire Station declined to comment further on any jobs when approached by Hawke’s Bay Today, due to the ongoing career firefighters’ industrial action and bargaining with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz).

A Fenz spokesperson said four fire trucks attended the fire on Whirinaki Rd at 6.01 pm on Wednesday, and the last crew departed the scene at 6.39pm.

A Fenz spokesperson said four crews from Napier and Hastings attended a garage fire in South Longlands at 4.37am on Friday.

The last crew left the scene at 7.18am.

The Fenz spokesperson said one crew from the Mahia Volunteer Fire Brigade assisted at the scene of fallen powerlines near Mahia at 6.28pm on Friday and was on the scene for 15 minutes.