According to initial reports, a budget hostel caught in a deadly fire in New Zealand yesterday, which killed up to 10 people, was not equipped with sprinklers.
It certainly looks that way, though confusion over the issue continued throughout the day.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said sprinklers were not fitted in the Loafers Lodge hostel, the four-storey building in central Wellington which burst into flames early yesterday morning. New Zealand’s building code does not require retrofitting sprinkler systems into existing older buildings, according to New Zealand news outlets.
Yet New Zealand’s Housing Minister, Megan Woods, was quoted saying an official briefing assured her the building was inspected this year and was “up to code, including with fire sprinklers and alarms”.
Loafers Lodge was built in 1971, initially for offices and warehouses.
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he hadn’t received a briefing about the lack of sprinklers in the hostel but added it would be addressed in subsequent investigations.
At a press conference later, Hipkins confirmed: “The building code does not require the retrofitting of sprinkler systems into existing, older buildings.
“For older buildings there are fewer requirements than for newer buildings and so people who have apartments and so on where they’ve been there for a long time, there may not be sprinklers required for those.”
Authorities are still trying to determine whether fire alarms went off in the building. Former residents said the alarms frequently went off for no reason – but nobody seems to have heard them go off when the fire broke out.
First responders described the scene as a “worst nightmare”. As dusk fell in Wellington yesterday evening, six people had been confirmed dead, with a further 11 unaccounted for. Fire and emergency crews plan to search the building thoroughly today.
About 94 people were staying in the hostel when the fire broke out. It is not yet known whether any tourists were caught in the blaze. The budget hostel is said to have housed short-term and long-term tenants, transient backpackers, homeless people, shift workers and elderly folk. One neighbour said residents were known for holding rooftop parties.
The Loafers Lodge featured in a Tenancy Tribunal case last year concerning a tenant who was given a week’s notice to leave after complaining about fleas in his room.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, though reports this morning quoted a resident saying it broke out in one of the couches.
Written by: Peter Needham in Wellington, New Zealand
