Worries about asbestos after church fire
A fire at a Titahi Bay church, which had a roof made of asbestos, has meant children are barred from playing outside at a neighbouring school.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish a blaze in the Titahi Bay Baptist Church in Porirua overnight yesterday – the second fire at the church in two days.
Children attending a summer programme at Titahi Bay School next door could be seen being dropped off yesterday morning.
One parent, who did not want to be named, said the children were not allowed to play outside and would be spending the day in the school’s hall. She said she was told about the asbestos risk when she dropped off her children.
An inspector from building consulting firm Cove Kilnoch could be seen taking swabs of surfaces around the property but he declined to comment.
Ministry of Education acting head of education infrastructure service Rob Campbell said he did not expect the fire to have any impact on the school reopening for the school term.
‘‘The driveway between the school and the church area has been cordoned off after debris from the fire landed on the school site.
‘‘We have had our contractor visit the school site . . . and have received advice that the school buildings are safe to occupy.’’
Police are investigating the cause of the fire, which broke out shortly after midnight yesterday.
The church was well alight when it was called in, a Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson said.
No injuries were reported but fire services remained at the scene several hours later. A fire investigator was also present.
The blaze is believed to have been an electrical fire, caused by a fire that occurred in a different part of the building on Thursday morning, church members have been told.
Church elder Brian Brannigan said the fire service said the fire started out of an exterior electrical box and it had reignited in another part of the church’s roof a day later.
‘‘The roof turns into a wind tunnel and just a little bit can be fanned into a fire.’’
He said the roof of the church was made of asbestos, which would have become airborne during the fire.
‘‘The asbestos would have been picked up last night in the high winds and there were high pressure hoses underneath, you can’t blame them for that – they were trying to put a fire out – but asbestos when it burns it just goes everywhere.’’
Other members of the church said they expected the building to be a write-off by the insurance company and eventually bulldozed because of the asbestos.
Brannigan expected churchgoers to be displaced for at least a year and a half, and they would likely move services to the school.
‘‘We’ve always co-operated with the school and they’ve already offered to co-operate . . . that means we’ll probably move next door for a while – depending on how long we can use those premises.’’
He also said this would mean the end of free meals offered at the church on Monday nights, which had been done for 24 years.
Police said they were making inquiries into what had caused the fire but they could not say whether it was suspicious. ‘‘At the moment, we’re continuing inquiries working to determine what exactly happened,’’ a spokeswoman said.
Fire and Emergency NZ communication spokesman Murray Dunbar said the cause of the fire was being investigated.
The church is on the corner of Waiuta and Kura streets and has also served as a community gathering place.
Asbestos-related diseases take years to develop, and are usually because of continued exposure, but the small particles can stay lodged in lungs permanently once they are breathed in.