COMMERCIAL HOTEL FIRE MARCH 1968

At about 2 or 3 in the morning , the fire siren woke many from their sleep. From my bedroom in our house in Dick St, I would immediately crawl along the bed, lift the old Holland blind, and look out. Somewhere near the town bridge I could see a lot of white smoke. I ran down Ranft St and Kelly St and by that time I could see smoke crossing through the roof  and windows Crowds of people were arriving at the scene in dressing- gowns, clothes thrown over pyjamas and even just pyjamas, looking quite helpless as smoke billowed out from every opening of the large wooden hotel. Very soon hoses were lined up along Broadway, a pump was drawing water from the Inangahua River and the helicopter parked up on the Strand started up and moved to a cooler spot.  Unseen by many, a banker had jumped off the second storey onto a parked car, and to the safety of Broadway. A ‘’whoosh” was heard and the hotel turned into a blazing inferno. People rushed back another block as the fire engine began to blister, and was bravely shifted.  A power pole across the street caught fire, and the Four Square shop’s curtains began to burn. It was terrible, but spectacular sight.

Morning came, and all that was left of one of the longish buildings in Reefton, was the chimney stacks.

Two men died in the flames, including one who went from room to room, making sure everyone was evacuated from the building.

Scarletts Empire Hotel and Restaurant, later the New Commercial, Reefton,

Blacks Point Museum Photo Collection

Band marching on Broadway, Reefton past the Empire Hotel, later the New Commercial

F. Scarletts Dodge passing the New Commercial in Reefton on D. Day, 1944.

Ah Len passing The New Commercial Hotel on Broadway, Reefton.ca. 1920`s.

Stan Newcombe & Ah Len outside the New Commercial Hotel

Hotel Reefton and New Commercial

1967

Towards the end of March 1968, the fire which gutted the New Commercial Hotel caused the tragic loss of two lives, Mr Ivan Shanks, a Government auditor and guest at the hotel,and Mr Gilbert Carter, who was a permanent boarder.

There were nine people in the building, including the manager, Mr. Eric Timpson, his wife and two children, and three permanent boarders and two guests.

One of the boarders, a pensioner, gave the alarm, but did not escape from the building.

Another boarder jumped from the top balcony, a height of about 20 feet, he received a twisted ankle.

The other occupants fled the building by fire escape. All were sleeping on the top story. They escaped in their night attire and were unable to save anything.

So intense was the heat from the blaze, the Reefton Fire appliance began smouldering and had to be moved.

The fire jumped the street and set alight to a grocery shop, breaking windows and causing paint to blister.

The nearby Hotel Reefton, a few yards along from the New Commercial, received only one broken window.

The nearest we can say is that it started sometime between 3 a.m. and 3.30a.m.

By 3.30 a.m. the building was a blazing inferno, the hotel was owned by Mr. L. B. de Roo, of Springs Junction.

Jack Eklund is the fireman in the photos.

Photographer  Reon Murtha

Photographer  Reon Murtha

Photographer  Reon Murtha

Photographer  Reon Murtha

Tony Fortune Photo Collection

Truman Brothers was located on the ground floor of the two storied building that is the front accommodation for Lantern Court Motels.

The complex became the Reefton Motels operated by Bob Pennington. The building was originally part of the Former Rotokohu School. The new complex at the rear and the design on the front complex was modelled on the New Commercial Hotel which sat beside the existing Reefton Hotel.

Paul Thomas --

Photographer  Brian McIntyre

My Memory by Tony Fortune