Fire guts panel beaters in Hastings

A Fire fighter at the scene of a fire that destroyed the Apex Panel Beaters building in Hastings last night. Photograph/Paul Taylor

More than 30 firefighters and volunteer servicemen battled a blaze for four hours last night which gutted a Hastings panel beaters.

The fire at Apex Panel Beating and Spray Painting has left owner Bill Russell in "complete shock".

He was called at 10:30PM about the fire at the property he owned for 35 years, but was told "not to rush in".

"When I got here the flames were still going six or eight metres high in the air" he said, "it was pretty bad."

The fire destroyed four of Mr Russell's personal cars which he had been restoring for the past four or five years.

There were also five client cars, a brand new jet boat, and two race cars also in the warehouse.

"The worst part were the two cars, the 1951 Cadillac and 1960 Ford Thunderbird, they're irreplaceable."

Hastings Area Commander Chris Nicoll said when fire services arrived at the scene around 11PM last night the building was completely involved, and the corrugated iron roof had collapsed.

He said ten fire trucks with 30 firefighters from Hastings, Napier, and Havelock North worked together to get the fire under control. They had the blaze contained by 1:30AM.
Mr Nicoll said they did an "external deliverance of attack" so no fire fighters would have to enter the building because the risk for them was too great.

Fire Safety were carrying out an investigation into how the fire started, but Mr Russell had been told early signs were pointed to an electrical issue at fault either in the building or with one of the cars.