A fire that completely destroyed a chapel in Hawke’s Bay left a portrait of Jesus untouched.
Firefighters were called to the blaze in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel in Te Hauke, about 21km southwest of the city of Hastings, at 6.35am on Sunday.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said crews were able to contain the fire to the chapel area of the church, but it was destroyed.
The administration wing was only impacted by smoke damage, the spokesman said.
The fire was extinguished by 8.10am by crews from Hastings, Waipawa, Tamatea, Tikokino, Napier and Ōtāne and firefighters remained at the scene for about five hours to monitor and dampen hotspots.
An investigation on Monday was ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
An evening karakia on Sunday was called by local kaumātua Jerry Hapuku on the grounds of the chapel and was attended by Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber, along with about 200 members of the community.
Barber said the service honoured the only surviving item, the portrait of Jesus, as well as the community’s resilience and the chapel’s historical significance.
“It’s pretty ironic really, the whole chapel is gutted out and you have got the portrait of Jesus Christ untouched and undamaged.”
Barber said the fire was a huge blow to what he said was a historical beacon of Hawke’s Bay and was built between 1961 and 1963.
“It surprised me how fast it went up. It’s an old brick building and it was engulfed by flames quite quickly. I’m just like everyone else, wondering what happened.
“You could see that the flames were coming through the roof in the chapel down the far end where the congregation meets.”
Barber said no one had planned to attend a Sunday service at the chapel, which is located near Te Hauke Marae and urupa on State Highway 2.
“This Sunday was what they call general conference, so people watch the conference that was filmed in Utah, basically watch it at home, so no one was at the chapel yesterday, which was very fortunate.”
Barber said the building was typically used every week by about 100 members of the Tamatea Te Hauke branch.
While he had not heard of any other incidents around chapels in the region, he said there was a heightened rhetoric from incidents at churches in America.
“The church has been on edge ... I don’t know where it’s all coming from, but people are on alert around the world, it would seem.
“People are being emboldened by some of the rhetoric that’s happening overseas, and we don’t need that kind of behaviour here.”
Te Matau a Māui stake president Justin Edwards asked members of the public not to enter the building.
“We are saddened at the damage to the chapel and the impact it may have had on people and on the community,” Edwards said.
“We can replace things and buildings but we can’t replace people, and with that we are grateful that no one was hurt.”
Barber said anyone wanting to support the rebuild of the chapel could do so by attending church in the Waipukurau chapel at 10am on Sunday.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.