A fireman damps down hotspots at the barn that housed the 1968 Corvette Stingray. Photo / Christine Cornege
A fireman damps down hotspots at the barn that housed the 1968 Corvette Stingray. Photo / Christine Cornege
Ron Hutchings spent four years refurbishing a classic 1968 Corvette Stingray he imported from America.
So when he arrived home yesterday and saw the barn he kept it in totally engulfed in flames, he could think of only one thing: "My car's in there."
The painting contractor, who manages theGlentui Travellers Lodge at Whatawhata with his wife, saw smoke and flames pouring from the barn's corrugated iron roof after neighbours had reported what sounded like explosions.
Mr Hutchings had stored much of his painting gear in the shed but it was his Corvette - which he said was not insured for fire - that had him worried.
There was little left of his prized possession except for a burned-out shell under the rubble despite the best efforts of one of his neighbours, who tried to keep the flames at bay with his garden hose.
"We'll just have to see what the insurance company says but I'm not too sure," Mr Hutchings said.
The fire also spread, burning down the lodge's adjoining ablution block, seriously damaging one of the lodge's two units and destroying a car that was next to the building.
"It was a Japanese import so it doesn't matter. I'm just glad it didn't get to my [house] bus.