Some survivors of a fatal boarding house fire are still struggling with the trauma of that night two years on, the Wellington City Missioner says.
Today marks the second anniversary of the Loafers Lodge fire in Newtown thatkilled five of the building’s 92 residents and left those who escaped homeless.
Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings lost their lives in the devastating blaze that began shortly after midnight on May 16, 2023.
Two years since the fatal fire, most of the Loafers Lodge residents have found permanent homes, but survivors were reluctant to speak to RNZ for this story.
Meanwhile, the gutted three-storey building stands virtually unchanged on Adelaide Rd and its future remains unclear.
Police said a man facing murder and arson charges is due to reappear in court at the end of this month.
The survivors - where are they now?
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Wellington City Mission became the go-to organisation for survivors, with staff saying their lives changed overnight.
Missioner Murray Edridge described it as an intense and challenging time.
“We got to hear stories about people having to climb over bodies to get out of the building. People who chose to jump out windows because there was no way out of the building,” he said.
“These were deeply traumatic events that for a number of people will stay with them probably the rest of their days.”
Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge. Photo / RNZ
He said it was not only a tragedy for the five people who lost their lives, but for the survivors who lost their home, and some of them, all their possessions.
Kāinga Ora Wellington regional director Vicki McLaren said she could not disclose current information, but said at the time of the fire 41 Loafers residents were placed in Kāinga Ora houses, while others found homes in the private market or transitional housing.
Edridge confirmed in the two years since, most had found permanent homes, some had left Wellington, and six remained at the Mission.
Survivors contacted by RNZ were reluctant to speak on record for this story, however, Miimetua Cameron - who was one of the last people to escape her floor - asked that any article highlight the work of the City Mission and Wellingtonians for “their kind donations”.
In the hours after the blaze, Cameron, who works at Taylor Preston, told RNZ she was lucky to be alive, but had no idea where she and her partner would live.
Speaking to RNZ this week, she said the couple’s new accommodation was a significant improvement - a single unit with its own kitchen facilities.
Miimetua Cameron lived at Loafers Lodge for three years. Photo / RNZ
Edridge said while some ex-lodgers were doing really well, a recent fire drill showed others were still struggling.
“Even just the alarm in the building, the requirement to evacuate, triggered a number of people so severely - and it was a reflection on the experience they had two years ago.
“So, for most of us life has moved on, for the people directly impacted by the fire, it hasn’t. In fact, it still stays with them very significantly.”
He said part of the problem was that the lodge still remained on Adelaide Rd, and he was disappointed that another year had passed and nothing had changed.
He wanted to see an urgent resolution - whether that be demolition or a rebuild.
“The stark reminder that creates everyday for people as they drive or walk past the site, where we still see a burnt-out shell, that will be retraumatising for many of these people time and time again.
“I guess my call is to whoever is responsible - legal, insurance, owners - to resolve it.”
RNZ contacted the owner of the building, but they declined to comment for this story.
A raft of reviews
The fire triggered a series of inquiries into fire protection.
A Wellington City Council audit released in June 2023 found 25 similar buildings to Loafers Lodge in the capital. Twenty-one had a current building warrant of fitness, one never had one and three did, but they were not current.
Following the fire, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) launched a probe into 37 buildings like Loafers Lodge (buildings that were at least three storeys tall, a boarding house and had no sprinklers). It found more than 100 problems, including smoke detectors not working and unmonitored alarm systems.
It also found the boarding houses were on average 60 years old. Most were not built originally to be accommodation and 69% had issues with safety systems.
MBIE’s head of building system, delivery and assurance Simon Thomas said issues around building warrant of fitness inspections had been resolved as of October last year.
In addition to further guidance on building warrant of fitness compliance, an amendment to the Building Act in November 2024 increased fines and penalties for breaches, he said.
Firefighters at the scene of the blaze in 2023. Photo / RNZ
Meanwhile, MBIE’s head of tenancy Kat Watson said it had filed an application to take a boarding house operator to the Tenancy Tribunal for a range of breaches found in the initial investigation.
No date had been set for the hearing, and Watson could not say whether the breaches were related to fire safety, given the case was yet to be heard.
After the probe into boarding houses, the Government asked MBIE to do a full review of the building code’s fire safety provisions.
The Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk told RNZ he expected the final report and recommendations to be delivered within weeks, and that it would be made public shortly after.
He said more than 350 pages of feedback from architects, to builders and building occupants, had to be compiled.
“[It] has been a long and arduous task but it’s an important one and we’re determined to get it right, not to rush it.”
He said no one should have to endure the loss and trauma that resulted from the fire at Loafers Lodge.
“We remain committed to learning from this event to prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
A man, who has name suppression, has pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges and is due appear at the High Court in Wellington at the end of May.
At the end of last year, Fire and Emergency said it was unable to release a review into how it responded to the fatal fire while a criminal investigation was underway.
Fire and Emergency NZ regional manager Bruce Stubbs said the organisation would continue to support police with the ongoing court case.
He said two years on, Fire and Emergency’s thoughts were with those who perished in the fire and also with staff who performed “multiple rescues that evening in severe fire conditions”.
In a statement, Mayor Tory Whanau said her heart went out to the whānau and friends of those who perished and continued to grieve.
Reporter Herikō is at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngaa Papaonekura, where tamariki from kura all over the motu are running their hearts out in cross country races.
