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.<\/p>\n
After a night spent away from their homes, they were allowed to return yesterday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The resident said he was in the shower when police knocked on his door and told him to leave.<\/p>\n
An hour later, the flames were massive, he said.<\/p>\n
“Our windows were all open \u2014 we tried telling them that we need to close them, but they didn\u2019t allow us to go near … it really smells like smoke inside now.”<\/p>\n
They ended up sleeping at a friend\u2019s house in the city for the night.<\/p>\n
Firefighters were still on scene yesterday dampening down the site.<\/p>\n
Christchurch resident John Wedlake, who grew up nearby, heard the news about the hall with “great sadness”.<\/p>\n
Before it was a scout hall, the building was the Roslyn Baptist Church.<\/p>\n
He attended Sunday school there as a child and bible classes as a teenager.<\/p>\n
In 1953, his parents were married in the church, and his grandfather, William Winder, was a church elder in the 1940s.<\/p>\n
“The church has quite a meaningful history for me.”<\/p>\n
Yesterday, police detectives and fire investigators were investigating the cause of the blaze.<\/p>\n
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police would be making inquiries.<\/p>\n
He asked anyone who saw anybody acting suspicious in the area to call 105.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The scout hall, which was over 100 years old, was basically empty and had no power connected.<\/p>\n
Firefighters were first alerted to the blaze after a Roslyn crew returning from another callout noticed billowing smoke on about 3.35pm on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Photos or video could be emailed to roslynfirephotos2026@fireandemergency.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n