Christchurch sports bar The Fitz loses its memorabilia collection in a fire caused by burning clothes

A fierce fire that devastated a historic Christchurch sports bar and destroyed irreplaceable sports memorabilia was caused by self-fueled clothing.

The Fitz Sports Bar on Fitzgerald Ave was destroyed during the early morning fire on October 9.

It caused significant damage to the interior and destroyed the bar’s famous collection of sports memorabilia, including Crusaders and All Blacks jerseys, Canterbury Rams basketball jerseys and Wellington Phoenix FC soccer jerseys.

Also missing are 24 New Zealand Warriors rugby league jerseys that used to hang from the bar ceiling, including an original 1995 DB Bitter Warriors jersey later signed by club legends Stacey Jones, Manu Vatuvei and others.

“It’s sad … you will get back monetary dollars for your loss, but you won’t get back those highs,” says manager Dean Baldwin.

“But the big picture is that it was 5 am and not 5 pm when we are busy, so as much as we can never replace those memories, we will replace them with others.”

The final report from the fire assessor concluded that the fire started by burning clothing.

The bar had a decade-long ritual of washing dish towels and bar towels overnight and in the morning the cleaner would come in, take them out of the washing machine, put them in the dryer and, before leaving, put them in two baskets washing. .

“The official word from the advisor was that those hand towels and dish towels that we washed burned and created the fire,” says Baldwin, co-owner of the bar with Paul Kofoed and Christy Mong.

“I guess it’s unfortunate … I’ve never heard of clothes or items from a dryer burning.”

It has not yet been determined whether the known bar will be repaired or rebuilt.

But Baldwin believes it will be at least 12 months before the doors reopen.

By then, work on the nearby new indoor multipurpose stadium will be under construction and Baldwin believes it will be an attractive place for workers, and once complete, a prime waterhole for fans of red and black sports.

“As much as something terrible happened, there could be a bright light at the end,” he says.

“There have been a lot of people asking what we are going to do and we can’t wait to do our thing again.”

The Fitz has already received a donated framed Kiwis jersey from the 2011 Anzac test that also remembers the victims of the February 22, 2011 earthquake.

“When we enter the new place, that will be the place of honor at the bar. We will be back,” says Baldwin.