Napier boarding houses with highest fire risk to be assessed more regularly

The aged Willowpark Lodge is one of the buildings in Hastings that has an up-to-date building Warrant of Fitness and has passed its most recent independent inspection, according to the Hastings District Council. Photo / Paul Taylor

Napier boarding houses deemed the most likely to be a fire risk are set to be assessed by authorities more regularly.

It’s a bid to prevent a Loafers Lodge-style tragedy in Hawke’s Bay, after five people perished in a lethal blaze on May 16 in Wellington.

Both the Hastings District Council and the Napier City Council told Hawke’s Bay Today all boarding houses, or “backpacker accommodation” under their jurisdiction, had passed their most recent audit and were up to date with their building warrants of fitness (WoF) and fire safety standards.

Jason Renall, manager of Sleeping Giant Backpackers in Hastings, said he had been thinking about fire safety after a man was charged with five counts of murder and two counts of arson following the Loafers Lodge fire.

“The Loafers fire in Wellington certainly gets you thinking about fire safety and the overall safety and comfort of guests,” Renall said.

“There is only so much you can control and the fact that the fire appears to be deliberately lit is a sign of something else we need to look out for.”

Renall said he had regular contact with his guests, as he often helped them get work or they worked in industries he was familiar with.

“The regular contact and conversations allow me to gauge whether someone is getting on well with others and is a good fit,” he said.

“Anti-social and aggressive behaviour is not tolerated and those guests are moved on promptly.”

Renall said his building has a current WoF, renewed annually, which is displayed just inside the building.

“I engage Firetech Services to perform monthly checks on my emergency warning system, smoke detectors and heat detectors, fire alarm sirens, emergency lighting system, appropriate signage, fire hose reels and fire extinguishers,” he said.

The Hastings District Council do unannounced visits to check the building WoF is correctly displayed as well as sighting all the systems that make up the building compliance features as part of the WoF, Renall said.

He said that while he didn’t have a sprinkler system installed, he had “numerous” fire extinguishers and two fire hose reels on the property.

A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said boarding house inspections are carried out annually by an IQP (Independent Qualified Person), and they were all up to date.

A Napier City Council spokeswoman said it previously carried out an on-site audit of all buildings with a compliance schedule a least once every five years, but they were now changing that.

“We are currently in the process of changing this to a more risk-based audit schedule, whereby high-risk buildings are audited more regularly and low-risk buildings less regularly,” she said.

“The last backpacker-type building onsite audits were carried out on various dates between 2019 to 2022 when they were due as part of the audit schedule.”

The NCC council spokeswoman said a building warrant of fitness is a statement confirming that the specified systems have been maintained and checked as required for the previous twelve months, and it is required annually from the owner.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz