The blaze which destroyed the country's northernmost petrol station was caused by "a major electrical event", a fire investigator says.
The service station and dairy at Waitiki Landing, 20km south of Cape Reinga, burnt to the ground in the early hours of Saturday morning.
While no one was hurt, theblaze is a huge blow to the nearby settlement of Te Hapua, the tourist industry in the very Far North, and the family which runs the cafe-campground-petrol station complex at Waitiki Landing.
And with the petrol station at Houhora, 50km to the south, due to close at the end of the month, soon there will be nowhere to refuel between Awanui and the Cape, a distance of about 100km.
Fire investigator Craig Bain said the cause appeared to be a major electrical event in a sub-main power unit inside the building. Power went out around the same time and he was working with Top Energy to find out whether the power cut was a result of the fire or vice versa.
Mr Bain described the couple who run the complex as "lovely, lovely people".
At the time all Joyce and Rex Munns, who have managed the business for the past seven years, could do was to get their 20 or so guests into their cars and several hundred metres away in case the underground fuel tanks exploded.
While the double tanks prevented an explosion, there was nothing left to salvage of the building - or the freshly bought stock for the expected Labour weekend crowd.
