Onehunga Mall fire: Cause undetermined as damaged building demolished

What sparked a fire that tore through buildings on Onehunga Mall is unlikely to ever be known as businesses start to reopen.

Fire crews fought the January 25 blaze after it broke out at a two-storey building, a NZME photographer on the scene said at the time.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said the cause of the fire was undetermined because the building had significant damage done to it, making it structurally unsafe for fire investigators to enter.

Police have also been contacted for comment.

Business Onehunga manager Victoria Puxty said the building which caught fire had to be demolished because of safety concerns.

“It was pretty precarious how it was sitting and the concern was that the facade would fall across Onehunga Mall itself,” Puxty said, “and that’s when it was deemed a public safety risk and we had to close the mall to ensure that no pedestrians or anybody was hurt by any debris.”

Firefighters from Onehunga called in reinforcements from across the Auckland region as they battled a large blaze at an abandoned building on Onehunga Mall. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Puxty told the Herald the fire had spread to neighbouring buildings, but work was still being done to determine whether these were safe to reopen.

She also said businesses away from the fire have been hit hard by the inability for people to park and drive at the mall.

However, she was confident the road would be completely reopened before the end of the week.

“On the weekend it was deemed safe by the structural engineers to open up the cafe, the jewellers and Barfoot [& Thompson].

“It is now just the buildings that were directly affected by the fire [that are closed].”

Puxty said work is being done to try to relocate the Lotto shop somewhere else on Onehunga Mall so it can open up as soon as possible because it is situated in one of the fire-affected buildings.

The Business Onehunga manager said the turnaround time to open some of the shops has been rapid and it was important to support these local businesses as soon as possible.