Haruru fire victims thank firefighters, neighbours

A fire investigator at the scene of a blaze which destroyed R&S Auto Services just two weeks after the business opened. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The owner of a two-week-old business destroyed by fire has expressed his heartfelt thanks to the firefighters who stopped it spreading any further.

Shane Shaw and Robyn Davidson, who own R&S Auto Services in Haruru Falls, were at a wedding in Taranaki when a neighbour called at 2am last Monday saying their workshop was on fire.

Firefighters from Paihia, Kawakawa and Kerikeri couldn't save the workshop or four cars Shaw was working on — the roller doors were glowing red hot and flames were shooting out the skylights when the first crew arrived — but they did save an adjoining cottage.

Even a glasshouse right next to the workshop was undamaged.

Shaw expressed his gratitude in a message to a Paihia Facebook group, saying: ''To the Fire and Emergency crews that came from near and far, thank you so much. Containing the fire to the workshop only and preventing it from jumping to our studio shed and cottage, words cannot express how thankful we are.''

Shaw also thanked neighbours who raised the alarm and helped with the clean up, police who stayed overnight, and many locals who had called in offering support.

"Although we have lost our livelihood and everything inside the workshop it could have been worse," he said. They were also grateful the cottage tenant was away at the time.

The couple had built up a successful business across the Tasman but felt the call to come home after 35 years in Melbourne. They bought the Haruru Falls property two years ago and only opened the business two weeks before the fire.

Shaw told the Advocate the fire had prompted "a bit of soul searching" about whether he had done the right thing by leaving everything behind in Australia.

"It knocked me for six," he said.

However, they "absolutely loved" being part of the Bay of Islands community, and that had been re-affirmed by the support they had been shown.

He was keen to re-open but that would depend on insurance. A fire investigator had determined an electrical fault was to blame but work was continuing to pinpoint exactly where the fault had occurred.

Lessons from the fire included the importance of being fully insured, and making sure electrical appliances were checked regularly and chargers weren't left on.

Shaw said he still had "lots and lots of people to thank". He called in to Paihia fire station on Tuesday night to say thanks in person and was planning to contact the other brigades as well.