KEY POINTS:
The cause of a fire that burned a marae to the ground last night remains unclear.
Te Huki Marae at Raupunga near Wairoa was destroyed just a year short of the 50th anniversary of its completion.
Firefighters were called to the marae, about 40km southwest of Wairoa, about 12.50am, but were unable to save the buildings.
Bay Forests deputy principal rural fire officer Brian Saunders said four appliances had fought the flames.
"They're still there now cleaning up, dampening down hot spots and shifting roofing iron because the entire complex got burned down."
With the area dry, there were concerns the fire could have spread to vegetation and cause serious problems.
He said fire service and rural fire investigators remained at the scene and it was too early to say what had caused the blaze.
A marae trustee, who did not want to be named, told Hawke's Bay Today the marae kitchen had only just been refurbished and the marae was a big loss to the community.
"We started building it in 1956, and finished in May 1958. It cost 7000 pounds in its day.
"It was going to be 50 years old next year. We were going to start planning a 50-year anniversary for it."
There were no smoke alarms or sprinklers at the marae, prompting the fire service to say the tragedy was a wake-up call for all marae.
"This is an unfortunate but timely reminder for all marae to manage the risk of fire for our tupuna whare (ancestral houses)," said Piki Thomas, the fire service's national Maori adviser.
"The fire service recommends that all marae meeting houses install smoke alarms to give early warning of a fire and sprinklers to control any outbreak of fire," he said.
" The remote rural nature of the marae also highlights the fact that marae need to adopt a level of self sufficiency against fire to reduce the effects of the smoke and flames while the emergency services respond.
"This can be achieved by installing smoke alarms and sprinklers."
- NZPA
