It may have looked like a derelict barn, but to Hohepa Orikena it was more of a structural symbol - and it wasn't a barn.
On the fringes of the dunes near the mouth of the Waingongoro Stream just north of Waimarama, the small campsite structure, which was engulfed in a fire early on Sunday night, had been built "for the kids" about 30 years ago.
It hadn't been used for about 15 years, and while still standing, with several macrocarpa-slabbed tabletops inside appearing almost untouched by the flames, he expects to demolish the building.
But Mr Orikena, a former Waimarama firefighting volunteer who lives 2-3km from the site, said at home yesterday he wants to replant the area of tussock and grass which was burnt around the shack after the fire started about 6.30pm on Sunday.
The fire was battled by volunteers from Waimarama and Havelock North, and a Fire Service crew from Hastings, who managed to limit the spread across the grassland on a day on which temperatures in Hawke's Bay soared over 30C, with Hastings posting the second-to-highest in the country at 32.2C.
