Holy Smoke!
The historic St Peters church, on the corner of Willis & Ghuznee St, is currently on fire.
There are seven fire appliances and one ambulance attending the fire, and just now they seem to have stopped the smoke belching out of the doors and windows. More updates & photos as they come to hand...
19:18 The intersection is closed off, though it's possible for northbound traffic to turn left from Willis into Ghuznee.
There's a 3 News crew filming, so TV footage might be available soon.
19:31 The smoke is slowly diminishing, there are no visible flames, and the firefighters seem to be dealing with it very calmly, so it may be just some internal fittings that caught fire. With any luck, there might not be any damage to the historic building itself (Thomas Turnbull, 1879).
19:44 There are now 9 appliances, but things seem to be quieting down. Ghuznee St is still closed between Victoria & Willis, and two northbound trolley buses are banked up on Willis.
19:53 Crisis over, or so it seems: the ambulances have left, and the fire hoses are getting packed up.
20:19 All back to normal now, with traffic flowing through the intersection. I guess we'll find out tomorrow whether anything important was damaged or destroyed.
I hope everyone's alright. :(
Nice reporting there! I hope the building isn't seriously damaged.
seems to be a busy area for firefighters. we had an alarm in our building (ghuznee/victoria) last week. false one.. and just before this fire six firetrucks could be seen on dixon street.. nice reporting.. =^)
One thing: why don't churches and schools install sprinklers? They are always getting hit by arson - one way to dampen down the fun of the happy arsonist....
I am delighted to say St Peters did have sprinklers installed and because of that the fire was contained although there was a lot of water damage. Still, better that than a destroyed building. And I would recommend every building have sprinklers.
Guy,
As you've probably heard reported already, they have sprinklers installed. That is probably why it isn't a pile of burnt, vintage timber this morning.
Hoorah for sprinklers!
This is from a Police Email Alert Subscription
New Zealand Police Alert 9:00am 15 Apr 2008 Wellington
Location of incident: St Peters Church Wellington
Incident type: Arson
At approximately 5.30pm on Monday 14 April 2008, a small fire was lit against a boarded up wall at the St James Car-park, Wakefield Street, Wellington. The Fire Service was called and were able to quickly extinguish the flames - minimal damage was caused.
At approximately 5.50pm a second fire was intentionally lit inside an insecure garage, situated on Eva Street, Wellington. The Fire Service again was able to quickly extinguish the flames.
At approximately 6.10pm the historic St Peters Church, on the corner of Ghuznee & Willis Streets, was broken into and another fire was intentionally lit inside the main body of the church. The sprinkler system activated and contained the flames until the Fire Service were able to fully control the fire. An internal wall was damaged by the flames but the church also sustained substantial water damage.
The Fire Service report that the church would have been razed to the ground had the sprinkler system not activated.
Later in the evening a 22 yr old local male was arrested and charged with 3 x Arson and 1 x Burglary. He will appear in the Wellington District Court later today - his bail will be opposed.
Police are very appreciative of information received from the public which enabled this speedy arrest.
MEDIA WANTING TO VIEW THE DAMAGE AT ST PETERS CHURCH CAN MEET POLICE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH TODAY AT 11AM AND YOU WILL BE SHOWN THROUGH.
Media released on behalf of Det Sgt John van den Heuvel Issued By: Inspector Michael Coleman
And another hoorah for the public and police to bring this bastard in.
(and last but not least, a hoorah for the firies who have to put up with idiots like this and for preserving live and homes alike).
Meant to say excellent title, btw
thanks for the great pics and updates. Had a stomach lurching moment to think that building might be in trouble.