Support floods in after city blaze

PETER DRURY/Waikato Times

DEVASTATING DAMAGE: A view of part of Tristram Marine's roof which collapsed in Sunday's fire.

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Bunches of flowers, multiple servings of morning tea and offers to use empty warehouse space have been flowing into Hamilton's Tristram Marine following the news of the fire which gutted part of its building at the weekend.

Tristram Marine owner Lance Fink said the support from their neighbours, the wider community and even Auckland-based competitors had been "mind boggling" and he and his wife Bronwyn couldn't thank people enough.

A fire swept into the Udy Pl, Te Rapa, building on Sunday afternoon, destroying a quarter of the 4180 square metre building.

Mr Fink yesterday struggled to reply to all the phone calls and text messages he had received and said his staff, who all returned to work yesterday, were treated with two lots of morning tea – one from New World Te Rapa and the other from the parents of a staff member.

Hamilton businesses had offered the use of spare warehouse space for storage and even rival boat manufacturers had called several times to tell them to get up and running as soon as possible. "Friends and colleagues who visited us yesterday couldn't believe how we were back in production. We are already surfacing boat plugs to rebuild our hull models."

The fire hit the laminating area and destroyed about 90 per cent of the company's hull models. The rest of the building was untouched thanks to internal fire walls.

Tristram Marine's insurers Vero and NZI had already given the company the go-ahead to begin rebuilding. The burnt area will be demolished next week.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and it could still be several days before the exact cause is discovered.

- © Fairfax NZ News