Blaze ruins chiropractic rooms

JONATHAN CAMERON/Manawatu Standard

GUTTED: Palmerston North chiropractor Les Whitehead stands inside his Featherston Street business premises destroyed by fire today.

Relevant offers

Chiropractor Les Whitehead could only stand and watch as fire incinerated his 45-year-old practice at the weekend, but the Palmerston North businessman plans to bounce back quickly.

A temporary replacement premises has been found on Broadway Avenue already and Dr Whitehead hopes it will be open for business from tomorrow.

Dr Whitehead lost equipment, such as x-ray machines worth thousands of dollars, in the fire at the Featherston Street practice on Saturday afternoon. Police were not treating the fire as suspicious.

The building's interior was damaged extensively, but patient records were salvaged.

Dr Whitehead said he was amazed by public support he had received. That included Property Brokers making its commercial premises on Broadway available immediately.

Dr Whitehead plans to use it for five months while his practice is rebuilt.

Neighbour Carol Gerke said she had been conducting a campaign for Mash - a provider of services for people with disabilities - when she heard what she thought was a smoke alarm.

She saw fire go up through the roof and rang the Fire Service, but it was on its way already.

Fire safety officer Murray Kidd said the fire started in one of the consulting rooms. The cause was still being investigated yesterday, but the fire didn't look suspicious, he said.

Dr Whitehead said he was alerted to the fire by an alarm system and neighbours calling him. It's not the first time he has had to deal with a traumatic situation.

In 1997 a former employee was convicted of attempting to murder him and was sentenced to 10 years' jail. Dr Whitehead said he was devastated by the fire, but it was a "hiccup" compared to losing his 12-year-old granddaughter to leukaemia. "I'm moving on and concentrating on the future," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News