Newspaper Article 2019 – Railway station fire suspicious

Railway station fire suspicious

Warning on danger of asbestos at site

A mystery fire that destroyed the Hastings Railway Station is now being treated as suspicious.

Police confirmed the development yesterday, but said they were not able to comment further.

A witness described hearing a “popping” sound at the station moments before she watched it go up in flames early on Saturday morning.

First reported at 2.02am, the fire gutted the old asbestos-ridden station on the corner of St Aubyn St and Sir James Wattie Pl.

Chelsea Barham, who works across the road from the station, said she was leaving work around 2am when she heard the “popping” sound and saw smoke. She said she called 111 and watched the fire until it was almost put out, about 3-3.30am.

Five fire trucks and two tankers were needed to quell the fire. Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay District Health Board Medical Officer of Health, Dr Nick Jones, on Saturday advised members of the public to stay away.

Building materials included asbestos-containing sheets that potentially posed a risk to health if fibres were inhaled, he said.

Council said the building site was being kept damp to contain asbestos fibres while site containment and clean-up operations were under way. Fine particle samples were also being tested to ensure that there was no ongoing risk to the public or people working nearby.

The station was opened in July 1962, but is part of a history dating back to a small station built in 1874.

The latest building has been mainly empty since the Bay Express passenger service ended in 2001 but has been used for occasional heritage train excursions, including steam train and ADF railcar stops during Napier’s Art Deco weekend.

Council and KiwiRail had been involved in various discussions about options over the years, including use by Sustainable Hawke’s Bay for its Environment Centre, the Landmark Trust with a particular interest in Wattie’s and founder Sir James Wattie, and a cafe, as well as upgrading the toilets.

Photo captions –

LEFT: The suspicious blaze gutted the iconic structure on Saturday.
Photo / Warren Buckland

BELOW: A Wellington train in for the Blossom Parade, September 14, 1958, arrives at an earlier guise of the Hastings station; Russell Street is to the left of the railway line.
Photo/Hawke’s Bay Knowledge Bank

BELOW: About 500 orchardists, fruitgrowers and interested parties gathered at the station in June 2005, headed for Wellington to take part in a protest organised by the Australian Access Action Group.

HASTINGS BLOSSOM DAY TRAIN FROM WELLINGTON ARRIVAL 7.30 AM   SEPTEMBER 1958

Members of Hastings Host Lions help paint the old Hastings railway station in 2016.

The opening of the new Hastings Railway Station on July 9, 1962.
Photo/NZ Railway and Locomotive Society