Firefighters worked for four hours on Sunday night to contain the blaze at what is believed to be a Wairoa Mongrel Mob pad. Photo / Ryan O'Sullivan Wairoa Star
A huge fire on Sunday night "severely damaged" a gang pad used by the Wairoa chapter of the Mongrel Mob.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said they were called to a residential property in Wairoa about 6pm on Sunday.
The spokesman confirmed there were no reported injuries or fatalities, but the house was "severely damaged". One person was asleep inside at the time but was able to escape, police said.
Wairoa firefighters worked for more then four hours to control the blaze.
They also returned to the home at about 4.40am on Monday to "dampen down hotspots".
A witness to the fire, who Hawke's Bay Today has agreed not to name, described seeing a "massive plume of black smoke" and the smell of burning timber as firefighters responded.
She said the building, once a truck depot known as Trident Transport before it became the long-standing headquarters of the Wairoa Mongrel Mob chapter, was "absolutely engulfed".
"It looks like it went up really quickly."
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Detective Sergeant Sam Park said police would work together with FENZ investigators to determine the cause, though "initial indications are that it is not suspicious".
He said a scene examination would begin today with a guard put in place at the property overnight on Sunday.
Wairoa mayor Craig Little said there would likely be mixed emotions about the gang pad being destroyed, "with some happy that it's gone".
He agreed things in Wairoa had "quietened down" after gang tensions rose in July with eight gang-related shooting incidents.
Little said activity at the gang pad had decreased and it was rarely used but questions of what next and where they would meet remained.
A house also thought to be a Hastings Mongrel Mob gang pad in Omahu burned down on January 16, though the cause was not believed to be related to inter-gang tensions.
Firefighters from Hastings also spent over an hour on Sunday working to extinguish a tree fire near the intersection of State Highway 2 and Burma Rd about 5.10pm.
Crews were also called to put out two car fires, one in Roys Hill, Hastings, at about 3.10am and another in Havelock North, at about 3.40am on Monday.
Both car fires were being treated as suspicious, a Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman confirmed.
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