Efforts by fire crews stopped the fire spreading, with the majority of damage contained to a tenanted flat, the Nelson Theatre green room and the part of the upstairs Francis Bacon Studio. Photo / Paul Taylor
Efforts by fire crews stopped the fire spreading, with the majority of damage contained to a tenanted flat, the Nelson Theatre green room and the part of the upstairs Francis Bacon Studio. Photo / Paul Taylor
Fire crews carried paintings to safety from the Francis Bacon Studio in Havelock North's Keirunga Gardens while the balance of 50 firefighters kept the fire from spreading from an adjoining flat.
A roofline window of the studio was broken by an aerial fire ladder to ventilate smoke, which assisted firefighting efforts and location of paintings from the building that houses a potters' studio, artists' studio, theatre and tenanted flat.
The blaze, considered deliberately lit, broke out at 11.20pm on Tuesday and took two hours to control.
Hastings station officer Mike Manning said it was an "intense" effort from Hastings, Havelock North, Napier, Haumoana and Taradale fire crews.
"They did a very good job containing the fire - it was fully involved when they arrived," he said.
Their "interior cut-off" was a textbook firefighting technique. Many artworks were saved and the nearby historic homestead and cottage were undamaged, he said.
Fire crews remained at the scene yesterday, where Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule said the damaged creative spaces might possibly be rebuilt thanks to a "fantastic" firefighting effort.
"For the artistic community this is devastating, but it could have been a lot worse," he said.
Nobody was injured and there were options for interim spaces available. The building is owned by the Keirunga Gardens Arts and Craft Society.
"Like many organisations on council land, they insure their buildings as part of Hastings District Council insurance collective arrangements," he said.
"What's happens next in terms of repairs/replacement will be decided by the society and the insurance provider."
Inside the Kierunga building fire. Photo / Paul Taylor
Keirunga Gardens Arts and Crafts Society president John Eaden said a lot of activities would continue. "The impact is going to be on the painting/drawing/printmaking, the pottery and activities in the theatre," he said.
"We are very relieved that the homestead and cottage have been untouched."
The majority of damage was to the flat, the Nelson Theatre green room and the part of the upstairs Francis Bacon Studio.
"Pottery may be okay - it may just be smoke damage down there. We have to wait and see what the assessor says."
He said some classes would be temporarily cancelled but there was "a huge amount of goodwill" for Keirunga and he was confident all classes would soon continue.
Assistant area commander Nigel Hall said it appeared the fire started in a storage area underneath the flat.
Fire crews battled the blaze for two hours after it broke out on Tuesday night. Photo / Richard Wood
"There is no other ignition source so we are quite confident it has probably been started deliberately," he said.
