A diamond-tipped chainsaw was used to pierce a hole in the copper cap on the clock tower of Whangārei's Old Town Hall so all traces of a devastating fire could be extinguished.
Hours after the fire on the second floor of the historic 107-year-old building on Bank St was doused, firefighters used a special fire appliance from Auckland's Parnell station equipped with an aerial basket on the end of a extendible ladder, to access the clock tower.
The alarm was raised about 12.45pm on Thursday and everyone in the building was evacuated. It didn't take long before a wall of white smoke made it almost impossible to see anything on the central city street.
![A plume of smoke covers Bank St as a fire takes hold in the The Old Town Hall in central Whangārei. Photo / Kristin Edge](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/KOCGVTDTAN7HUC5R4XYY3XOS4U.jpg?auth=c27a0a90a90c8ed4aa24428848f1400582b3fb747d8365123ced939344c4e993&width=16&height=10&quality=70&smart=true)
The fire quickly took hold of much of the second floor, spreading through the roof and destroying the landmark clock tower.