Oily rag ‘bursting into flames’ cause of fire in former Whanganui fish and chip shop

Firefighters at the scene of the fire in a former fish and chip shop on Rangitikei St, Whanganui East on March 6. Photo / Eva de Jong

The cause of a fire in a former Whanganui fish and chip shop was an oily rag seen on CCTV footage bursting into flames.

The fire at the property near the corner of Rangitikei and Kitchener Streets in Whanganui East began about 1.50pm on March 6.

Specialist fire investigator John Hotter said he had determined the cause of the fire to be the spontaneous combustion of a rag.

“When there are oils on a rag and they stew away for quite some time, it can spontaneously combust...it’s to do with a chemical reaction,” Hotter said.

“It doesn’t happen often but it is more common with linseed oil rags.”

Hotter said in this case it was not clear if the oil was linseed but CCTV footage had revealed the rag smoking before “bursting into flames”.

It was not an uncommon cause of fires and Hotter had seen it in other cases around Whanganui.

“Oily rags shouldn’t be bunched up, they should be left open to the air.”

The property was left in the hands of the owner after the fire had been extinguished, he said.

Fire and Emergency NZ Manawatū Whanganui assistant commander Jemal Weston said three fire trucks had responded to the blaze on March 6.

“Initially, it came in that there were persons reported potentially inside, but that was cleared, and apparently [the people] were at another address.”

Firefighters had managed to cut off the fire before it spread further into an adjoining property, he said.

“No one was injured.”

Resident Beryl Johnson, who lives nearby, said Whanganui East was typically a quiet neighbourhood.

“I saw thick black smoke at first ... then I heard glass breaking. I came around here and it was well ablaze.”

Johnson had been to the fish and chip shop when it was still operating and said the business “used to make nice chips”.

Police had also attended and had assisted fire investigators with their investigation into the cause of the fire.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.