A rare 1950s Morris J van was all but destroyed last night when fire broke out in a large double garage at the rear of a property in Owen Road in Kaiti.
Two other old vehicles in the shed were damaged in the blaze. It has “gutted” Kim and Phillip Land, who say they have lost decades of history and “stuff we can never replace”. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell
THE Land family of Owen Road in Kaiti were “gutted” after a fire extensively damaged a large shed on their property last night, but grateful that firefighters were able to stop it when they did.
A 1950s Morris J van in the shed was burned out in the fire, and a 1944 Chev truck and 1962 Ford Corsair were badly damaged.
“I was working outside and heard a couple of explosions from inside the shed,” said owner Phillip Land.
“I went inside to have a look and was met by smoke and could see the fire on the floor.
“I grabbed a fire extinguisher and thought I had it out, but then cans of lubricant ignited and exploded.
“The extinguisher was empty by that stage, and the next minute the shed was filled with black smoke. I had to get out,” Mr Land said.
He and wife Kim are “gutted”.
“We had more than 40 years of history in that shed.”
Mr Land said there were heaps of tools, spare parts and other equipment lost or damaged in the blaze, along with the vehicles.
“There was stuff in there I could not ever replace.
“We hope to be able to salvage the Chev truck and the Ford Corsair, but the Morris van is gutted and probably a write-off.”
The fire service sent two crews to the Land home just before 6pm and found the large double garage at the rear of the property well involved.
They were able to stop the fire spreading further in the metal-clad shed and to other adjoining sheds and vehicles.
“It could have been a lot worse. They were fantastic.”
Mr Land said he and his family were very grateful for the job the firefighters did.
The fire crews took about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control, and were there for about three hours.
“The shed was extensively damaged, and much of what was in it was either destroyed or likewise extensively damaged,” said Senior Station Officer Mike Milne.
“We were unable to pin down an exact cause.”
Specialist fire investigator Derek Goodwin and police this morning started an investigation.
“We will be here much of the day today to hopefully establish how the fire started, “ Mr Goodwin said.
“The crews who tackled the fire last night did a good job.
“We would call this a good save but there was a lot of valuable property lost.”
The Lands were fully insured.