Crews fight ‘totally involved’ garage fire
Crews battled a garage fire in Rotorua on Thursday.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokeswoman said they received multiple calls about a garage on fire in Fairy Springs about 10.15am.
“On arrival, we found a garage totally involved in fire.
“Crews have now put the fire out and are dampening hotspots.”
Two crews were called to the scene and there were no reports of anyone in the garage, she said.
A police spokesman said police were called to the garage fire on Victory Rd about 10.30am.
A fire investigator had been called to the scene.
A lawnmowing contractor said he arrived on Victory Rd at the time smoke was billowing from a garage at the rear of a property.
He looked up and saw the smoke and flames and ran down the driveway and yelled out to the people inside the house “are you okay?” They said they were not so he ran back to his vehicle on Victory Rd and called 111.
He said the fire was getting quite big. A woman who lives at the property in front of the house where the fire was said she was not home at the time but came home to hear one of her neighbours telling her “the back of your place is on fire”.
The woman said she got a fright and went to have a look but discovered it was the neighbour’s property.
Another man who lived nearby said he could smell and see smoke wafting through his house, so he ran over to make sure everyone was okay.
A woman who said she owned the property arrived at the scene and said she’d just taken a phone call to say there was a fire at her house. She said she could not comment further until she had had a look to see what the damage was.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokeswoman said all occupants were accounted for and the cause of the fire has been deemed accidental. It was previously thought to be suspicious.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily
Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.