Fire and Emergency NZ are responding to a warehouse blaze in Shelly Bay, Wellington this morning. Video / Mark Ranford / Nick Grobler
The fire that destroyed a prominent heritage building in Wellington’s Shelly Bay yesterday is being treated as suspicious.
Police said this evening they have completed an initial scene examination at Shed 8, which is also known as the sawtooth building.
The scene has been handed over to Wellington City Council and the building will be cleared over the coming days.
The Wellington Company had planned to keep the building as part of a housing development planned at Shelly Bay but investigations revealed the adjoining wharf was hazardous, preventing the access and repair of the Shed 8 building to which it is connected.
They had also hoped to salvage materials from it but the fire has scuppered those plans.
Police said earlier today that the cause of the fire cannot be determined due to the damage the building suffered.
“It is being treated as suspicious because the building was unoccupied at the time the fire broke out, and power was not connected,” they said in a statement.
Police are asking the public to avoid the area and said anyone who has information that could help the investigation should call the non-emergency 105 number, referencing file number 230607/9584.
Police are expected to return to the scene late next week to continue enquiries once it is safe to do so.
The sawtooth building, or Shed 8, caught fire yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Yesterday, asbestos risk was a concern and residents in the area were told to keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution.
Samples have since been taken and there are no concerns, but monitoring will continue over the coming days, Wellington City Council reported on Facebook.
“In outdoor settings, asbestos fibres disperse quickly,” the council said.
“The number of fibres in the air returns to low levels within a few metres of a contamination source. The risk to neighbouring properties from the site is therefore low.”
The Wellington Company said in a statement yesterday the building was “intended for generations of Wellingtonians to come”.
“The Wellington Company have invested heavily in consents, architectural and urban design/ landscape plans around these buildings before the notice for demolition was issued by Wellington City Council over the structures in late December 2022. The two wharfside buildings were then programmed for removal in August 2023, with salvaged materials to be adaptively reused within the development of Shelly Bay Taikuru,” they said.
“We are devastated with the loss of opportunity to reuse these elements from Shed 8, as well as the salvaged wharf timbers located on site which were destroyed by the fire.
“We would like to thank Fire and Emergency New Zealand and NZ Police for their continuing efforts, and our thoughts are also with contractors who have lost equipment in the fire. The focus now shifts to the safe clean-up of the site, in collaboration with Wellington City Council - and following that, what can be delivered on the site to create a memorable place - for all of Wellington and beyond.”
