High-rise blaze sounds safety-system warning

WELLINGTON - An early-morning fire in a Wellington high-rise building was a wake-up call for people living in apartment blocks to have safety devices, the Fire Service says.

About 100 firefighters, some from Porirua and Lower Hutt, fought the blaze on the top floor of the 13-storey Aston Towers building on Abel Smith St about 12.30 am on Saturday.

Forty people, many of them elderly, were evacuated. They credited a new smoke alarm system with saving their lives. Though no one was hurt, an elderly woman resident died later that night after suffering a stroke.

About half of the building's residents have been allowed to return. Many of the 50 privately owned apartments received water damage.

Wellington fire safety head Herb Carberry said the fire was a warning about the need to have safety devices installed. Dozens of apartment buildings were without smoke alarms or sprinkler systems.

"From a legal point of view, they are not required to have sprinkler systems installed."

Building Industry Authority spokesman John MacGregor said sprinkler systems were not mandatory under the Building Act.

Instead, buildings had to meet a number of safety requirements, such as having fire escapes and smoke-detection systems.

A Wellington City Council spokesman, Richard Toner, said the council assessed buildings and decided whether they met safety requirements.

- NZPA