One of the owners of a Petone cafe that went up in flames this morning says he at first tried to put the fire out himself with a garden hose.
Matt Wilson is the part owner of House of Good Fortune cafe and coffee roastery. He told the Herald he was at the cafe this morning when smoke began to “pour in” through the skylights.
“It’s an old villa, so the fire started in the ceiling...it got incredibly smoky incredibly quickly.”
Wilson said he rushed to get the garden hose to try to extinguish the flames himself but it “didn’t do much”. All staff inside the cafe at the time of the fire had got out safely, and Wilson said they were currently all waiting at his house for the all-clear to return to the building and see the damage.
Wilson told the Herald the fire is a bit of deja vu, after another cafe he owns - Maranui Cafe - burned down 15 years ago. He said it was too early to know how damaged the building was, as firefighters were still on site but he will talk to other coffee roasteries in the region to see if he can continue to roast his coffee.
