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A Sanson business has been destroyed in a massive fire, which injured one person and threatened to spread to the gas station next door.
Firefighters were called to Dundas Rd, State Highway 3, near the intersection with SH1, when Passionz Unique Imports and Home Decor caught fire at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Fire and Emergency spokesman Murray Dunbar said the two-story building was well lit when the Bulls Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived minutes later, and it took nearly two hours to contain the blaze.
Daniel Goodwin / Supplied
Firefighters were called to State Highway 3 in Sanson when Passionz Unique Imports and Home Decor was engulfed in flames at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
A spokesperson for St John Ambulance said paramedics treated an elderly person for minor injuries but did not need to be taken to hospital.
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Police cordoned off roads and diverted traffic around the city to give firefighters room to work.
Dunbar said the building was a burned-out shell and that firefighters were still buffering hot spots at 8:20 p.m.
The building will be demolished Wednesday to ensure public safety, but could be torn down overnight if deemed necessary, he said.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Chrystal Gravenor’s father lives on Hedges Street behind the property that caught fire, and when he saw the plume of smoke, he was quick to check that he was okay.
DEVYN INKS / Supplied
Firefighters rushed to the blaze that destroyed Passionz Imports around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. They prevented the fire from spreading and extinguished it at 7 p.m., but were unable to save the building.
The family knows the woman who owns Passionz and lived above the store, so she and her son went out the back door to see if they could help, but they weren’t needed, he said.
Gravenour was told that the business owner was not home during the fire, and saw that the neighborhood had already gathered to help.
A group of six men pushed the owner’s locked car, with the parking brake still on, out of his driveway and away from the fire. While others made sure all the nearby neighbors and merchants were okay too.
“It is a small community, so we all try to help each other.”
Daniel Goodwin saw the fire on his way home from work in Palmerston North.
“I saw a bit of smoke and in a couple of minutes the whole building was on fire.”
Goodwin and a couple more passersby ran up to Passionz and yelled and banged on windows to alert anyone still inside on the second floor.
He said they continued like this until a neighbor told them that the occupants were already safe.
By 5.40pm, several other brigades, including the air force, had sent reinforcements to fight the fire.
