Town turns out to stop threatening office fire

Volunteers rush to stop the blaze. Photo / Rex Cooper

A fierce blaze could have "burned half of Russell to the ground" yesterday without the intervention of quick-thinking locals, including an Olympian.

The fire started in an office above a hardware store containing more than 20 gas bottles in a backroom.

As smoke billowed from a top office about 10.30am, neighbours called emergency services and saved a dog upstairs before hauling the gas bottles from the building.

Former Olympic sailor Sharon Ferris, who represented New Zealand at the 1996 and 2004 Games, lives in town and was on her way to a local sailing race. "I saw the smoke close to my friend's building and grabbed the phone and dialled 111."

When she arrived, flames more than 2m high were leaping from a window.

"I just starting helping the others take out the gas bottles. Some of the bottles were the big 45kg bottles so we were helping each other carry them. It wasn't hot but it was very smoky, really black smoke.

"I can still feel the smoke in the back of my throat."

Cristine Aronson-Ewbank, whose husband worked out of the office, said the fire could have been disastrous and "burned half of Russell to the ground".

"It's an amazing example of the community coming together to prevent what could have been a devastating fire.

"The volunteer fire crew were amazing - not just quick at arriving but at doing an amazing job."

Around 30 passers-by pitched in to help as the volunteer firefighters used water from a swimming pool in a neighbouring hotel.

Station chief fire officer Jeff Miller said it could have turned out a lot worse.

"If the gas had gone it could have cleared the town."

He said there was probably more gas in the tanks than at the Tamahere coolstore fire that killed one firefighter and injured six others. "It was a good save."

Volunteer support officer Colin Kitchen paid tribute to the firefighters.

"It was their first structural fire for three or four years but they got in and did the job."

He said the fire was not considered suspicious.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY