At 1.30am on Wednesday the 15th of June Sergeant Marie Marshall was patrolling in Napier south. She noticed some smoke coming from an area behind The Little Theatre in McGrath Street.
She found a fire taking hold at the rear of the building and with the help of some neighbours was able to stem the fire until the Fire Service arrived. Although quite a bit of damage occurred, it was limited to one area.
Detective Sergeant Darren Pritchard who examined the scene with Specialist Fire Investigator, Fire Safety Officer Mike Finucane, was able to ascertain that the cause of the fire was not suspicious. It appears that the fire may have been caused by hot embers being dropped behind the property.
“This is the second type of fire of this nature this week in this area with a shed burning down in Maraekakaho, said Sgt Marie Marshall. I was out patrolling last night and thought there was way more smoke than what a chimney would put out. So I hopped back in the car and raced around to McGrath Street and it was well-underway by then,” she said.
There was a large amount of costumes located not far away from the seat of the fire and Fire Safety Officer, Mike Finucane is of the opinion this would have been an accident waiting to happen. The close proximity of neighbouring wooden-constructed homes was also a real concern. "People shouldn't be randomly disposing of live ashes, said Mr Finucane. They should think more carefully about where ashes are dumped as they can remain alight for some time. It's useful to house these in metal buckets away from structures," he stressed.
President of the Napier Repertory Players Incorporated, Anne Corney said “Sgt Marshall was in the right place at the right time. She did a great job, she saved our second home. Members of the theatre are practically living here at the moment, to get things right for opening night which is tonight and she did an amazing job.”
Sgt Marshall’s Police cohorts and superiors are thrilled and commend her quick thinking.
“If it hadn’t been for her spotting this fire so early, she would never have prevented the Little Theatre from being raised to the ground said Detective Sergeant Pritchard. Also, it's a big night - it's opening night, and even though the smoke damage is an issue... the show will still go on,” he said.
ENDS
Issued by Jillian Reid - Police Media Centre