Arson ruled out in bar blaze

The remains of the Celtic, which were yesterday being examined by insurance assessors. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Police have ruled out arson as the cause of the fire that destroyed a popular Wanganui bar last month.

Fire Service officers were called to the Caroline's Celtic restaurant and bar on September 26 but the fire was already out of control when they arrived around 4am. The building could not be saved.

Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby said an investigation into the cause of the fire was done in conjunction with the Fire Service, although police had now stepped back.

"It has reached a stage where it seems that it is not suspicious and so it does not require any further police involvement."

John Hotter, a fire risk management officer, said two possible causes of the fire had been identified.

"Due to the amount of destruction to the building by the fire we can't be 100 per cent, but there are two options, both of which are accidental," he said.

He would not say what the options were.

Insurance assessors were at the site yesterday and a notice from the Wanganui District Council posted nearby said the building had to be demolished and the site cleared by 4pm on October 30.

Patrick Norton, brother of owner Caroline, told the Chronicle last month it was likely the bar would be rebuilt on the same site.

Meanwhile, Mr Kirby said police inquiries into a suspicious fire in Bell St on September 29 were continuing, as was the investigation into another fire that gutted a historic homestead near Waitotara six days earlier.

He said police were interested in talking to anybody who picked up a male hitchhiker in Wanganui and dropped him off in the Kai Iwi-Maxwell-Nukumaru area on the evening of September 23.

Anybody who picked up a hitchhiker that day should contact Constable Jackson at the Whanganui Police Station on 06 3490638.