Cause of car workshop fire hard to find

Fire investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze that gutted a workshop at a Nelson car yard.

MS Ford’s service lane building suffered extensive damage after a fire broke out about 10pm on Saturday.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand specialist fire investigator Greg McLean said it was an awkward task to figure out how the fire started, given the nature of the workshop area.

‘‘The problem that we have in a building such as this is there is just so much flammable material.

‘‘Oil stores have gone, acetylene cylinders have gone – we’ve had a number of very intense fires right throughout the building.

‘‘We’re dealing with . . . flammable liquids, hydraulic oils, mineral oils – they all catch fire and burn, and with every one of them you have to have to discern between the cause and victim of the fire.’’

The fire at the workshop, located behind the MS Ford showroom on Haven Rd, was extinguished by 3am on Sunday.

Eight cars in the workshop were damaged, although the fire did not affect the showroom or any of the cars displayed at the front of the property.

Firefighters prevented the fire spreading to vegetation at the rear of the property, as well as to the nearby BP petrol station and Rockgas LPG bulk storage facility.

Rockgas Nelson owner Richard Inglis said the site was unscathed. He paid tribute to the work of the firefighters to get the fire under control so quickly.

‘‘We do practices with them all the time – you’ve got to be very happy with the response time. They had it all under control when I got here.’’