Lower Hutt community centre damaged in suspicious blaze 500m from closed fire station

Lower Hutt's Alicetown Community Centre was seriously damaged by a fire early this morning. Photo / New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union

A fire that gutted a Lower Hutt community centre early this morning has reignited calls to reopen a local fire station shut down four years ago due to mould.

The Alicetown Community Centre was seriously damaged in a blaze in the early hours of this morning, with locals scrambling to extinguish the fire with garden hoses.

Police have confirmed the large fire is being investigated as suspicious, with a scene guard in place overnight.

It comes amid heightened industrial tensions for firefighters around the country, with strikes and claims of leadership failures at Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

A post on a local community page described the centre as being “gutted” by the fire.

The damage to the building, which is expected to remain closed for some time, is being described as a “huge loss to the community”.

“A big thank you goes out to the people first on the scene who tried to help with garden hoses,” the post said.

A post from the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union said the fire happened just a two-minute drive from the closed Hutt City Fire Station.

“Hutt City Station was critical in responding to Lower Hutt CBD, Alicetown and the Western Hills. Fenz currently has no plan or confirmed solution for a replacement station,” the post said.

The station, which was closed in late 2021, is about 500m away from the scene of last night’s fire.

It served thousands of households on the western hills and west side of the Hutt River, but was shut due to issues with black mould, RNZ earlier reported.

The union’s Wellington secretary Kurt Walsh said since the closure of the station, existing stations are stretched.

“We’ve had enough of it as firefighters,” Walsh said. “I’m sure the people of Lower Hutt who pay their fire service levy for sufficient coverage that aren’t getting it anymore won’t be happy with this result – they just lost a community centre this morning.”

He is calling on Fire and Emergency to act immediately to reinstate a local station in the area.

A Fire and Emergency spokeswoman said the service received a call about the fire at 2.29am and managed to arrive at 2.37am.

Crews extinguished the fire by 3.25am and stayed until just after 5am dampening down hotspots, the spokeswoman said.

Regarding the closed Hutt City station, Fire and Emergency said it was forced to relocate the Hutt Fire appliance out of the leased site in Alicetown, because of “issues with the building that needed to be resolved”.

“Since then, the appliance has operated from Avalon Fire Station. The former Hutt City Station crews are still responding to Hutt City incidents from Avalon and the Hutt City coverage area is also supported by other stations.

“The Lower Hutt community can be assured Fire and Emergency continues to respond to emergencies in the city with the same number of crews and firefighters,” the spokeswoman said.

New Lower Hutt Mayor Ken Laban told the Herald it was an “upsetting incident” for the community.

“I understand police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand are treating the fire as suspicious, so it’s important they’re given the space to carry out their investigation,” Laban said.

“I’m thankful no one was hurt and our thoughts are with everyone connected to the community centre.”