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One of Auckland's iconic theatres has been ravaged by a fire that emergency services suspect was arson.
The West Wing of the St James Theatre in Queen Street was badly damaged in the blaze which broke out at about 3am yesterday. The fire was so hot it melted the visors on firefighters' helmets. No one was in the building at the time with most of the staff heading off to a nearby bar at about 2.30am.
Firefighters said the blaze is being treated as suspicious. Theatre manager John Griffiths said there had been problems at the neighbouring hostel and with vagrants in the area - 13 were rounded up by police last week.
"It was deliberately done, I think. The hostel next door has been plagued by vagabonds. There are street people who live in the entrance."
Griffiths said it was lucky it was an old concrete building which helped to prevent the fire spreading.
"It was built in 1936 and it's built like a fortress," he said.
However, the quick efforts of firefighters stopped the building from being gutted - if they had arrived five minutes later the fire would have engulfed the theatre.
"We could have lost the whole building - I know it was really hot," senior station officer Sulu Devoe said.
Gareth Romero, a security worker for St James, ran to the theatre when he heard it was on fire and arrived to see black smoke billowing from the building.
"We could see the smoke from far away - it was pretty thick. We were all wondering how it started. It's either from the electrics, because it's quite an old building, or it could be arson. But for a building so secure how did they get in in the first place?"
Griffiths said the fire isn't likely to slow the theatre down too much, and it will be ready for the next gig in about a month's time. The main theatre will not be affected.
"It will slow up for maybe a few weeks while they do repairs. It should be up and running by then. It's just a matter of getting a team of builders going in there."
