Two flee blaze at historic hostelry

WELLINGTON - Two people had to scramble to safety as Taihape's century-old DB Hotel was destroyed by fire early yesterday.

The main street building erupted into flames shortly after midnight and was well ablaze when the first firefighters arrived.

The only occupants, the proprietor and a guest, had been woken by a fire alarm and escaped into the street.

The Taihape chief fire officer, Tony Collings, said smoke was already pouring from the eaves of the building.

Brigades from as far away as Wanganui responded to the fire, with a total of 68 firefighters at the scene.

"The hotel is right in the middle of the main street and we were concerned about other shops in the area," he said.

The fire spread quickly because the building was so old, and there were no sprinklers installed.

However, Mr Collings said it was impossible to speculate whether sprinklers would have saved the building.

The fire took about five hours to bring under control, and a standby crew was still at the historic building last night.

Weekend takings of several thousand dollars were still in good condition in the safe.

Fire safety officers and insurance assessors concluded that the most likely cause of the fire was an electrical fault. - NZPA