Business as ususal after arson attack

WHEN Brent Dallison got to his Waverley store at 2am it was full of smoke and the flames from the back door were up to the roof.
The store has a monitored fire and burglar alarm, and the monitoring company had alerted him.
"As soon as the alarm goes I'm up and gone," Mr Dallison said.
He got to the Weraroa Rd store just after 2am yesterday morning.
"I didn't think to grab the fire extinguisher. I shot out the back door. There's a tap outside and I filled buckets and was out there chucking water on the door. I managed to get it out.
"If I had been here 10 minutes later she would be gone." By the time Waverley constable Rob Conder arrived the fire was under control. Mr Conder called the fire brigade anyway.
Firefighters used foam to attack fire that had got into the door frame. They used an extractor to pull smoke out of the building. Mr Dallison went home about 4.45am, leaving a police officer and fire crew on duty in case the blaze flared up again.
Dallisons store sells clothing, footwear, furniture, carpets and drapes. It has been in the Dallison family since 1929 and the ornamented building, with its many skylights, is a Waverley landmark. It is nearly 100 years old.
A builder is to fix the back door area and the fire will cost the family at least the $1000 insurance excess.
Police were conducting a scene examination and taking samples of charred wood yesterday morning.
Detective Constable John Dale said it appeared clear that the fire was deliberately set and there was no sign of an intention to burgle.
"We're very interested in anyone that has seen any movements around the area from 11pm on.
"It's a small community. Someone will be aware of a person perhaps smelling of smoky clothes or excitable and probably talking about it."
It would be in the interest of the community to work together on this, Mr Dale said, to prevent anything similar happening in future.
He advised shop owners to install monitored alarm systems and make sure there weren't flammable materials outside their stores.
Waverley Chief Fire Officer Alan Hickford said there wasn't much left to do by the time his full crew of 15 arrived. "It was just a matter of pulling the door frame out and dousing down any smouldering with foam."
A Patea crew also attended, along with two firefighters from Hawera who brought the ventilation fan which swiftly sucked smoke out of the building.
Arson was uncommon in Waverley. The town's senior constable, Brian Rook, believed the last one happened at least seven years ago, at a house in Brassey St.
CAPTION: Brent Dallison surveys the damage caused by a suspected arson attack to his Waverley store. The damage was minor and he wanted customers to know that the sale that started yesterday was still on.