Gay Auckland sauna the Wingate Club has been hit by the second fire in 18 months, and this time it’s suspicious. Firefighters from the Avondale station were called to the venue at 10.40 last night to reports of smoke coming from the roof. They used to high pressure hoses to fight the flames, and the call went to second alarm, meaning more firefighters were called in. Fire investigator Jason Goffin has been at the scene this morning. He says the blaze was started in an exterior light fitting and travelled up the wall, into the roof. “The damage is minimal. They’ve done really, really well to stop it spreading ... it could have been a lot worse.” Police are treating the fire as suspicious, and are at the scene investigating. Anyone with information should contact Avondale police, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. There were no injuries to patrons, however a firefighter suffered a suspected broken ankle. A Wingate Club spokesman says they are open today, and can remain open. "The fire is quite minor in the scheme of things, so it is more of a major nuisance than anything else. Some small part of the building needs to be redone, but nothing structural." The club was closed for a month after an accidental fire in May last year, which was caused when a sauna stove which had not been installed properly fell through the floor. The sauna and spa areas were badly damaged and there was extensive smoke damage throughout the rest of the building. Staff, a builder and volunteers worked to get the mostly undamaged part of the building ready for operation and it reopened after four weeks. The rest of building has since repaired and had a major interior redesign.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 30th October 2014 - 10:15am