KEY POINTS:
A 22-year-old Wellington man has been charged with three arsons, including that of a historic timber church in the capital.
Detective Sergeant John van den Heuvel said the blaze at St Peter's Anglican Church started about 6.10pm yesterday. The sprinkler system activated and contained the flames until the Fire Service took over.
"An internal wall was damaged by the flames but the church also sustained substantial water damage," Mr van den Heuvel said.
"The Fire Service report that the church would have been razed to the ground had the sprinkler system not activated."
The church blaze was preceded by two other incidents: at 5.30pm, a small fire was lit against a boarded up wall of the St James carpark and at 5.50pm one was lit inside an insecure garage in Eva Street.
Both fires were quickly extinguished, and all three were in the central city.
Reverend Dr Godfrey Nicholson said the fire at St Peter's was annoying and the full extent of the damage would not be known until this morning.
"There will be damage from water and damage from smoke but the fire was reasonably well contained," he said.
"It's an annoyance and we will have to review our security measures around the place but at some point the desire to keep the church open runs head on into the desire to protect an old heritage building from stupid people, and there are a few of them."
St Peter's was built in 1879, designed by noted architect Thomas Turnbull, and is regarded as a significant example of the Gothic style in timber.
Noted on the Wellington City Council's heritage buildings website for its high aesthetic value, the church is built of heart kauri and clad in rusticated weatherboards.
It has undergone major renovations in the past decade and was painted less than a year ago.
The man charged over the fires had also been charged with burglary. He will appear in Wellington District Court today, when police will oppose bail.
- NZPA
