Residents sharing a street with a scout hall that met a fiery end on Wednesday were told to flee their homes before they had a chance to even close windows or tie their shoelaces.
After a night spent away from their homes, they were allowed to return yesterday.
The large multi-storey blaze kept firefighters at the old Roslyn Scout hall overnight and well into yesterday morning after the building was gutted by flames.
A School St resident originally thought fog had descended on the street. However, he soon found out that was not the case once he smelt the smoke.
The resident said he was in the shower when police knocked on his door and told him to leave.
An hour later, the flames were massive, he said.
“Our windows were all open — we tried telling them that we need to close them, but they didn’t allow us to go near … it really smells like smoke inside now.”
They ended up sleeping at a friend’s house in the city for the night.
Firefighters were still on scene yesterday dampening down the site.
Christchurch resident John Wedlake, who grew up nearby, heard the news about the hall with “great sadness”.
Before it was a scout hall, the building was the Roslyn Baptist Church.
He attended Sunday school there as a child and bible classes as a teenager.
In 1953, his parents were married in the church, and his grandfather, William Winder, was a church elder in the 1940s.
“The church has quite a meaningful history for me.”
Yesterday, police detectives and fire investigators were investigating the cause of the blaze.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police would be making inquiries.
He asked anyone who saw anybody acting suspicious in the area to call 105.
The Fire and Emergency New Zealand investigator also wanted to hear from anyone who took photos or video of the early stages of the fire.
The scout hall, which was over 100 years old, was basically empty and had no power connected.
Firefighters were first alerted to the blaze after a Roslyn crew returning from another callout noticed billowing smoke on about 3.35pm on Wednesday.
â– Photos or video could be emailed to roslynfirephotos2026@fireandemergency.nz.