NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Quake inquiry: 'The bloody stairs have collapsed'

By Anna Turner of the Star
Christchurch Star·
23 Feb, 2012 01:14 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
The stairwells in the Forsyth Barr building collapsed during the February 22 Christchurch earthquake, but nobody was killed. Photo / Sarah Ivey
The stairwells in the Forsyth Barr building collapsed during the February 22 Christchurch earthquake, but nobody was killed. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The stairwells in the Forsyth Barr building collapsed during the February 22 Christchurch earthquake, but nobody was killed. Photo / Sarah Ivey

One of the country's top lawyers has described the "gaping hole" where the staircase of the Forsyth Barr building collapsed on February 22 and his terrifying realization he was trapped in the building.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry was hearing evidence into the collapse of the building's stairs on February 22 which left tenants trapped for several agonizing hours before they abseiled or were lifted to safety.

Lawyer Grant Cameron, who worked on the high profile Cave Creek case and has since represented the families of CTV building victims, was in his office on the sixth floor of the Forsyth Barr when the quake struck.

"It was immediately a lot more violent than anything we had previously experienced...We could hear furniture falling all around the office, women screaming and there was general chaos...Naturally there was a lot of concern and people were quite upset," he told the commission.

As Mr Cameron and his colleagues, including his wife Ilze, gathered their wits about them, a man rushed in from the bathrooms telling them the staircases were gone.

Unlock all articles by subscribing to this international offer

All-Access + BusinessDesk Weekly

Herald Premium, Viva Premium, The Listener & BusinessDesk
Pay just
$10
$2
per week
See all offers
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Or
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He looked utterly shocked and then blurted out 'You won't believe it but the bloody stairs have collapsed.' It took me a moment to register what he was saying, but he was quite insistent that the stairs had completely disappeared. "

The staff realised they were trapped in the building with no way out.

"There was just a gaping hole stretching down through the middle of the building with blackness both above and below."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Experiencing continual aftershocks and concerned about the possibility of a fire breaking out, Mr Cameron decided they had to get out of the building as soon as possible.

"I then explained to the staff we had a simple choice. We could stay where we were and await some form of rescue or we could attempt to escape down the side of the building. To await rescue necessarily meant some sort of crane being found and we had no way of knowing if and when such a crane may be available."

The staff began frantically tying electrical extension cords together to form a makeshift rope, but then discovered some actual rope in a Civil Defence kit in the building. Mr Cameron's office was about 30 feet from the carpark, and he thought if staff could be lowered to that level they may be able to escape down the car park ramps to the street.

After smashing a window with a sledgehammer, several men took the weight of each rope and began lowering people down to the carpark below. Over the next 90 minutes, 15 people were lowered to safety.

Discover more

New Zealand

Royal inquiry into Christchurch quake building collapses

14 Mar 03:32 AM
New Zealand

Building on shaky ground

18 Mar 04:30 PM
New Zealand

Quake building collapses explained

30 Sep 01:02 AM
New Zealand

Quake- a year on: Shaken city honours its heroes

22 Feb 04:30 PM

Mr Cameron and two other men remained in the building and were rescued by crane at around 4pm.

Earlier in the day, QC Stephen Mills said it was extremely lucky that no one had died in the staircase's collapse.

"It is by great fortune that no one was on the stairs at the time of the collapse. Had they been, then there would have been deaths. It's also by great good luck that no one tried to descend the stairs in the dark."

The stairs in the 18 storey building were pre-cast "scissor stairs", fixed at the top end of each flight, but designed to slide at the bottom end during an earthquake. The sliding movement was accommodated by a seismic gap of about 30 mm.

A report commissioned by the Department of Building and Housing last September said the stairs collapsed because the seismic gaps at the bottom landings were too small for the level of shaking experienced on February 22.

Minor structural damage was observed after the September 4 earthquake, including some cracking and deformation in a few flights of stairs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Cameron also told the commission he had been concerned about the state of the stairs following the September earthquake.

"Straight after we re-entered the building I was advised by a staff member that there was considerable damage to the stairwell and that it appeared quite serious."

Mr Cameron inspected the stairs himself and said he noticed "prominent damage", including sagging, vertical and horizontal movement, and "distinct cracking." He took photos of the damage.

Engineering firm Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner inspected the building on several occasions after the September earthquake. It was first given a red sticker, then this was changed to yellow, then green. When the sticker was changed to green, Beca said a further inspection of the stairways was needed.

However, no further investigation of the stairs was undertaken. The building's owner switched engineers, from Beca to Homes Consulting Group, and it was not clear whether Homes' engineers knew about Beca's recommendations to check the stairs.

"In any event, the follow up of the stair damage, including the inspection of the seismic gaps that Beca had recommended in its level two assessments, was never done," Mr Mills said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand
|Updated

‘Where’s my girl?’: Mum’s horror realising 11yo wasn't with Kaikohe crash survivors

Politics

NCEA changes: Emails show Labour shunned offers for briefings ahead of scrapping

Premium
New Zealand

Hospitality riding the winter storm: 'People just haven’t got the expendable dollar'


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

Cambodian PM nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
World

Cambodian PM nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

‘Where’s my girl?’: Mum’s horror realising 11yo wasn't with Kaikohe crash survivors
New Zealand

‘Where’s my girl?’: Mum’s horror realising 11yo wasn't with Kaikohe crash survivors

Three Springboks sign up for rugby’s R360 league, Savea a target
Rugby

Three Springboks sign up for rugby’s R360 league, Savea a target

NCEA changes: Emails show Labour shunned offers for briefings ahead of scrapping
Politics

NCEA changes: Emails show Labour shunned offers for briefings ahead of scrapping

Kremlin says Trump-Putin meeting agreed for ‘coming days’
World

Kremlin says Trump-Putin meeting agreed for ‘coming days’

Netanyahu seeks full control of Gaza amid mounting pressure
World

Netanyahu seeks full control of Gaza amid mounting pressure



Latest from New Zealand

‘Where’s my girl?’: Mum’s horror realising 11yo wasn't with Kaikohe crash survivors
New Zealand
|Updated

‘Where’s my girl?’: Mum’s horror realising 11yo wasn't with Kaikohe crash survivors

Staci Walkley, 11, was found dead under her parents’ vehicle after the collision.

07 Aug 06:43 PM
NCEA changes: Emails show Labour shunned offers for briefings ahead of scrapping
Politics

NCEA changes: Emails show Labour shunned offers for briefings ahead of scrapping

07 Aug 06:19 PM
Premium
Premium
Hospitality riding the winter storm: 'People just haven’t got the expendable dollar'
New Zealand

Hospitality riding the winter storm: 'People just haven’t got the expendable dollar'

07 Aug 06:00 PM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All-Access. All in one subscription.
Subscribe now

All-Access + BusinessDesk Weekly

Pay just
$10
$2
per week
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All-Access + BusinessDesk Annual

Pay just
$349
$49
per year
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search