Fire destroys familys Carterton hotel dream

Fire that devastated Belvedere House in Carterton on Saturday has also shattered the dreams of the couple who bought the 30-room building last year.
Owner David Hammerich said the blaze which fire safety inspectors have blamed on an electrical fault that ignited the vacant building about 2am on Saturday had dashed the hopes he and his partner held regarding the two-storey Belvedere Road premises.
Carterton fire chief Wayne Robinson said about 60 firefighters and a dozen engines were eventually scrambled to the property after Carterton police officer Dean Cadwallader first spotted the smoke and flames.
Mr Robinson said the fire had the "absolute potential" to raze the building and it was fortunate the Hammerich family were in Palmerston North when the blaze erupted.
The sight of the ruined building on Saturday afternoon left Mr Hammerich almost speechless. A woman friend at the scene said the family lived onsite but news of the fire had yet to be broken to his partner.
"I can't talk about it. It's too painful mate. Our dream is gone," Mr Hammerich said.
Mr Hammerich last year told the Times Age their intention was to shift the building "to a higher profile area" in the town and reopen as a hotel offering five-star accommodation upstairs.
Mr Robinson said crews from throughout Wairarapa were reinforced at the scene with specialist ladder, breathing apparatus and command engines from the Rimutaka and Wellington fire stations. He said the fire had been successfully contained but had still caused major structural damage to the building.
"It was an awesome save. The guys did really well considering it was a two-storey building, it was windy, and the fire was already well involved when we got there. It could have easily burned to the ground."
Fire safety officers have completed an examination of the site, he said, which the last few firefighters left late on Saturday morning.
Mr Hammerich was last year living in Wellington with his family where he taught at a Catholic school. The couple at the time had two children aged 1 and 3 and took possession of the property in August last year.
Mr Hammerich said then that he and his partner chose Carterton for "lifestyle and family reasons" and were keen for their children to be schooled in the town and their family to become "part and parcel" of the community.
Former Belvedere House owner Kathryn O'Regan two years ago turned the traditional pub hotel in to an accommodation and private function venue also offering bed and breakfast.
She had said the two-storey wooden structure dated back to the beginning of last century.
Alison Underhill, Carterton District Historical Society president, said another hotel on the same site burnt down in 1898.
The building is not listed as historic with the Carterton District Council.