Fire destroys Roxburgh town hall, home to longest-running cinema in the world

Roxburgh Town Hall has been destroyed in a fire. Photo / Supplied

A fire has destroyed the town hall in Roxburgh, Central Otago - home to the longest-running cinema.

The blaze was reported at about 11.45am and despite the efforts of multiple fire crews, the building could not be saved.

At 7.15pm, Central Otago District Council issued a statement about the incident along with a photo of the fire.

"Thank you to all those that tried so hard to save the Roxburgh Entertainment Centre and Town Hall," the statement said.

“Sadly the building has been destroyed. Engineers are making a safety assessment of the facade in the hope that it can be retained.

“A big thank you to the community of Roxburgh who helped save water for fighting the fire and especially to those neighbouring properties who quickly evacuated and helped the fire crews quickly get back to their work.

“We know this was a huge shock to everyone, thank you so much for your understanding and support throughout the day.

“Crews are still onsite and we ask people stay well away and stay safe.”

The council promised to keep the community updated in the coming weeks as the cause of the fire was established and future plans for the site were made.

Fire crews from Roxburgh, Millers Flat, Alexandra, Clyde, Heriot, Dunstan, Dunedin, Lawrence and St Kilda all worked to extinguish the fire, to no avail.

Earlier this afternoon Roxburgh residents and businesses on the town water supply were asked to conserve water to enable fire crews to do their job.

Fire and Emergency NZ incident Controller Phil Marsh asked people to stay well away from the area and follow the detours as some roads were closed.

He also advised residents to keep doors and windows closed to minimise exposure to smoke.

The council asked people to continue conserving water.

“We are monitoring levels closely and will let the community know if anything changes. Please continue to conserve water to critical use only to help our reservoir levels recover,” a spokesperson said.

"At this stage, it looks like we will be able to avoid a boil water notice. We have not had to bypass any stages of the water treatment process, and the water is safe to drink.

“The boil water notice is NOT required at this stage. We are grateful for your understanding and cooperation.”

The local swimming pool had closed today so water could be used for the fire. It will reopen tomorrow.

Many residents posed about the fire on social media.

“So, so many people have used and performed in this hall. School discos, pantomime, concerts of all kinds. It’s devastating to see it like this,” one woman said.

Another said: “A very sad day today, watching our beloved theatre and town hall fully involved with fire.”

The Roxburgh Cinema was based at the town hall and has been showing movies since 1897 - making it “the longest continuously running cinema in the world”.