Fire guts car, damages Torere Macadamias truck in Gisborne

Detailed summary

The sound of explosions woke Gisborne couple Vanessa Hayes and Rod Husband in the early hours of this morning. Their alarm grew as they smelled smoke before seeing flames from a…

The sound of bangs, then smoke, roused a Gisborne couple early this morning after a fire engulfed a car and spread to their light truck parked below their home in the city centre. Photo / Murray Robertson

The sound of explosions woke Gisborne couple Vanessa Hayes and Rod Husband in the early hours of this morning.

Their alarm grew as they smelled smoke before seeing flames from a car fire at the back of their building.

Emergency services responded to the incident in a corner of a parking area on Lowe St, at the rear of the former Gisborne Herald premises in the city centre, about 2am.

The fire started in a car used by Hayes and Husband, then spread to a truck they use for their Torere Macadamias business and scorched the walls of a nearby building.

“I heard a bang, got up, couldn’t see anything, but could smell smoke,” Hayes said.

“Then there was another bang, and that’s when Rod woke up, so we went to investigate.

“From our lounge window, we saw the back of the building and saw the flames and smoke.”

A senior firefighter said the car was fully ablaze when they got there.

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