{"id":377572,"date":"2026-04-13T16:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377572\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:28:08","slug":"te-arai-links-restaurant-rics-lost-to-fire-eye-witness-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377572\/","title":{"rendered":"Te Arai Links\u2019 restaurant Ric\u2019s lost to fire, eye-witness account"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA formal investigation is currently underway, and we will await its findings before providing any further detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te Arai Links said Ric\u2019s Restaurant was built in line with all fire compliance requirements and had been fully compliant at the time of the fire.<\/p>\n

\"DinersDiners at Ric’s Restaurant were evacuated after staff spotted smoke out the back of the venue. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

Another guest told the diner staff had tried to put the fire out themselves using fire extinguishers, but were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

The diner was one of about 20 people in the restaurant who were evacuated just before 10am, first to a carpark and later to Oceans restaurant. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just watched it get worse and worse as it spread to the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe diner said the fire had a very acrid smell. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

The diner said the plumes changed from black smoke to grey and then \u201cbright orange flames\u201d as the fire took hold of the building. The smell was described as being very acrid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt smelled electrical rather than that black, smoky smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeTe Arai Links said Ric\u2019s Restaurant was built in line with all fire compliance requirements and had been fully compliant at the time of the fire. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

The source said staff were \u201creally amazing\u201d throughout the whole process, acting swiftly to raise the alarm, ensure gas supplies were turned off, and vehicles were moved away from the unfolding emergency. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt so sorry for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the staff at Ric\u2019s live on site, so they were watching this happen to their home as well as their workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe diner was extremely grateful to the staff, who acted promptly and proactively as the emergency unfolded. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews were alerted to the blaze at the luxury golf course north of Auckland at 10.08am. Flames were seen burning through the large building\u2019s roof.<\/p>\n

Te Arai Links said yesterday had been a \u201cvery emotional day\u201d for everyone at the venue, and it was thankful nobody was injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to extend our sincere thanks to the fire brigade for their rapid response,\u201d a post on the course\u2019s social media accounts read.<\/p>\n

\u201cRic\u2019s is more than a restaurant – it\u2019s the heartbeat of Te Arai Links. It\u2019s where our team and our guests come together, and where so many moments have been created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ric\u2019s was one of six hospitality outlets on the golf resort. It offered laid-back dining with wood-fired pizzas and drinks. The restaurant opened on to a 2.5-acre putting green dubbed The Playground.<\/p>\n

Te Arai Links opened in 2022 and has two courses ranked in the top 100 globally. The golf course has hosted some of the best players in the world, including Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cA formal investigation is currently underway, and we will await its findings before providing any further detail.\u201d Te…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[29184,62037,4996,7054,46300,674,18478,1359,196791,2079,18126,1964,1360,58217,2442,5836,206,111,43,139,69,2539,196073,81396,1439,35108,8690,1361,210,61,85480,1316],"class_list":{"0":"post-377572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-account","9":"tag-arai","10":"tag-blaze","11":"tag-breakfast","12":"tag-broke","13":"tag-building","14":"tag-course","15":"tag-described","16":"tag-eyewitness","17":"tag-fire","18":"tag-golf","19":"tag-guest","20":"tag-having","21":"tag-incredibly","22":"tag-links","23":"tag-lost","24":"tag-luxury","25":"tag-new-zealand","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-newzealand","28":"tag-nz","29":"tag-restaurant","30":"tag-rics","31":"tag-sad","32":"tag-scene","33":"tag-spread","34":"tag-te","35":"tag-that","36":"tag-through","37":"tag-to","38":"tag-unfolded","39":"tag-when"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}