Some of the fire damage at 359 Cameron Rd, Tauranga. Photo / Sandra Conchie
Some of the fire damage at 359 Cameron Rd, Tauranga. Photo / Sandra Conchie
A suspicious fire that engulfed a two-storey building in Tauranga due for demolition is being treated as a likely arson attack.
The empty building on Cameron Rd, between Fourth and Fifth Aves, was well-involved when firefighters arrived at 5.45pm on Tuesday.
The building, which used to house Sam's All DayCafe and adjacent Fish and Chips on Cameron Rd, had been empty for some time.
Vantage Developments has plans to build a new six-level, luxury, 32-apartment building on the site at 359 Cameron Rd.
A spokesman from Vantage Developments, who visited the site yesterday, said the fire was "really annoying" but it would not interrupt the company's plans to demolish the building in two weeks.
He referred the Bay of Plenty Times to police and the fire investigator for further comment and urged anyone with information to contact the police.
Fire and Emergency NZ fire risk investigator Luke Burgess also referred the Bay of Plenty Times to the police for comment.
Detective Sergeant Mark Osbourne, speaking from the scene yesterday, said the fire had been deliberately lit and it was being treated as a likely arson.
Osborne said the fire investigator had told police some sort of accelerant was used to intentionally start the fire but he would not elaborate further.
A fire which engulfed a building at 359 Cameron Rd, Tauranga was deliberately lit, police say. Photo / Sandra Conchie
He said police were keen to hear from anyone who had any information to help police and the fire investigator finalise their investigations.
Osborne also said police were regularly moving homeless people on from living in the condemned building and that would form part of the ongoing inquiries.
"Fortunately, no one was injured and no adjacent buildings suffered damage," he said.
"It could have been a different story if there had been an explosion and someone had been sleeping in the building at the time."
Osborne urged anyone who had heard or seen anything suspicious around the relevant time or had any information about the fire to come forward.
Foster Construction staff boarding up the fire-damaged building in Cameron Rd. Photo / Sandra Conchie
Staff from Foster Construction, which is the company building the new apartment complex, boarded up the fire-damaged building yesterday.
Harinder Singh, the manager at vape retail store Shosha two doors down, said the fire, fortunately, did not spread to neighbouring businesses.
Singh said he and his colleagues first became aware of the fire when they saw big flames and thick black clouds of smoke billowing from the building.
Three fire appliances were already on the scene but the blaze meant they had to shut the shop doors earlier than normal, he said.
Singh was relieved no one was injured as homeless people sometimes slept in the empty building, he said.
"I am not pointing the finger at anyone but there are heaps of homeless people wandering around this area especially at this time of day."
A regular shopper in the area said they felt sorry for the building owners.
"It's hard enough to make a living without this happening," she said.
Anyone with information should call the 105 non-emergency line, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, and quote police case number 201110-1577.
