Wellington’s Shelly Bay fire: Scene guard to remain at warehouse blaze

A scene guard will remain in place overnight after a large warehouse fire in Wellington’s Shelly Bay destroyed a prominent heritage building.

Shed 8, also known as the sawtooth building, was due to be demolished in a matter of months as a housing development takes shape at the site.

Residents in the immediate area were advised to keep their windows and doors shut as a precaution against asbestos after a large fire destroyed the 50m by 40m derelict building.

Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder has established an exclusion zone ordering vessels to remain at least 300 metres away from the building’s remains.

“This shed was known to contain asbestos, with the impacts of fire to the surrounding area not yet known,” Nalder said.

“Various agencies are monitoring air quality around the site and make assessments around safety in relation to the asbestos and the remains of the building.”

Police said Shelly Bay Rd would remain closed overnight and people should avoid the area. Scene guard and fire crews will be on-site overnight to monitor and dampen down hotspots.

Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) and police began a scene examination today, which is expected to continue tomorrow.

Fire crews were called to the warehouse blaze shortly before 3am.

At its height, four pumping appliances, an aerial crew and a tanker battled the fire from the ground and air.

Flames could be seen across the harbour and residents posted photos and video on social media.

Was burning intensely. Look at the flames in the earliest photo. Wouldn’t want to be near that. pic.twitter.com/vdwQc5Uy5d

— Kate Pearce (@secvalve) June 6, 2023

Senior station officer Dave Miller said heavy machinery had been used to remove fallen roofing iron so fire investigators could assess the origin and cause of the fire.

”That investigation isn’t finished, and we won’t be able to comment further until it is finalised,” he said.

”Our crews also continue to cool and overhaul the site and keep any hotspots dampened down and the incident site wet.”

Fenz considers the risk of asbestos to be low if the site is wet, but if it dries there is a risk asbestos might get into the smoke.

Wellington City Council was also at the warehouse.

In January, the council announced the Shipwrights building and Shed 8, which the sawtooth building is part of, were to be demolished for health and safety reasons.

The warehouse at Shelly Bay is known as the sawtooth building. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“It was always council’s intention that the existing buildings would be retained and remediated; however, in December 2022, council became aware of further deterioration of the structural integrity of the Shed 8 and Shipwrights buildings at Shelly Bay.

“Both buildings are defined as “Dangerous” and “Earthquake Prone” pursuant to the Building Act 2015 due to a combination of weakened structural integrity and significant contamination (including asbestos).”

The Wellington Company had intended to save the Shipwrights and Officer’s Mess buildings as part of a redevelopment, but investigations revealed the adjoining wharf was also hazardous, preventing the access and repair of the Shed 8 building to which it is connected.

The Wellington Company said in a statement the building was “intended for generations of Wellingtonians to come”.

“The Wellington Company have invested heavily in consents, architectural and urban design/ landscape plans around these buildings before the notice for demolition was issued by Wellington City Council over the structures in late December 2022. The two wharfside buildings were then programmed for removal in August 2023, with salvaged materials to be adaptively reused within the development of Shelly Bay Taikuru,” they said.

The inside of the derelict sawtooth building which burned down in Wellington's Shelly Bay this morning. Photo / Andy Spain

“We are devastated with the loss of opportunity to reuse these elements from Shed 8, as well as the salvaged wharf timbers located on site which were destroyed by the fire.

“We would like to thank Fire and Emergency New Zealand and NZ Police for their continuing efforts, and our thoughts are also with contractors who have lost equipment in the fire. The focus now shifts to the safe clean-up of the site, in collaboration with Wellington City Council - and following that, what can be delivered on the site to create a memorable place - for all of Wellington and beyond.”