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Search for fire’s cause

Erin Gourley

Police and Fire and Emergency (Fenz) continue to search for the cause of a large fire which destroyed the Sawtooth Building at Shelly Bay.

The fire was on the site of the controversial $500 million development by The Wellington Company and Taranaki Whānui, which has faced problems in recent years with litigation, a longrunning occupation and heated debates around the council table.

The early-morning blaze yesterday destroyed the large building on the development site, which was soon to be demolished under an order from the

Wellington City Council.

It was not the first fire on the development site in recent years – at the start of February last year there was a suspicious fire in another of the former Air Force buildings.

It was put out by firefighters and ‘‘thoroughly investigated’’, a police spokesperson said.

No-one was arrested and the investigation was closed after police ‘‘exhausted all reasonable lines of inquiry’’, a spokesperson confirmed.

Yesterday, Fenz had to use heavy machinery to move iron from the building’s roof and allow investigators to access the site. It was a derelict building which had not been occupied recently, and Wellington Electricity confirmed

there was no power connected to the building.

The cause of the fire is not yet determined, with both police and Fenz saying it is too early to know if the blaze is suspicious.

Fenz senior station officer Dave Miller said ‘‘[the] investigation isn’t finished, and we won’t be able to comment further until it is finalised’’.

Police and Fenz both remained on the scene overnight, keeping a scene guard and dampening hot spots in the fire. The asbestos risk was low, Miller said.

The Wellington Company development manager Earl HopePearson said the company was ‘‘devastated’’ that it would not be able to reuse salvaged materials and timbers in the development, which was the plan since the demolition order.

He thanked Fenz and police for their efforts extinguishing and investigating the fire.

Anti-development group Save Shelly Bay put up laminated posters across Miramar asking for information about the blaze, describing it as ‘‘possible . . . arson’’.

Save Shelly Bay spokesperson Mary Varnham said the posters were being put up ‘‘to flush out more information and get to the bottom of this’’. Information would be passed onto police and Fenz, she said.

‘‘How much more can Shelly Bay take? It’s a horror show. I hope there’s more attention focused on the development now,’’ Varnham said.

The Shelly Bay group was sad to see the loss of the historic building and had been in the early stages of getting legal advice to stop the building’s demolition.

‘‘This once peaceful, beautiful area has been destroyed by the development and now this, it’s a disaster.’’

A statement from Mau Whenua, the group that led the 525-day-occupation at Shelly Bay, expressed sadness at the loss of the ‘‘iconic, and lately controversial’’ Sawtooth building.

‘‘However our main concern is that no-one was hurt, the negative effects on the environment are not too far-reaching and that the brave Fenz staff are OK after having to deal with such a dangerous situation.’’

News

en-nz

2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281582360026421

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