A mammoth fire in a South Otago church may have roared to life from a sparking dirt bike.<\/p>\n
A fire quickly spread, engulfing Stirling Presbyterian Church in Baker St, leaving a pile of burnt rubble.<\/p>\n
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said five crews were sent to the blaze at 6.20pm.<\/p>\n
They were on scene until 12.30am.<\/p>\n
Owner Misty Newcombe bought the church, located next to their home, when it was sold by the parish in 2016.<\/p>\n
In recent years, it had been used by her and her family to store home renovation equipment.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The church was my husband\u2019s man-cave … there was lots of flammables as well like petrol, chainsaws, oil, gas tanks, cylinders, paint, you name it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
On Saturday night, Ms Newcombe\u2019s teenage son and his friends were hanging out outside of the old church and started \u2018\u2018mucking around\u2019\u2019 with their dirt bikes.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Yeah, it went sideways fast.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
It was believed a spark from a bike might have started the fire.<\/p>\n
The teenagers were unharmed, but the fire spread very fast.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Nothing salvageable … it\u2019s all gone, just gone, absolutely everything\u2019s gone,\u2019\u2019 Ms Newcombe said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It was very, very scary \u2014 I\u2019m still reeling.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I\u2019m just really shaken up and upset …\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
More than anything, it was a real blow to the community, she said.<\/p>\n
Many residents would have memories of attending weddings, funerals, Sunday school and services at the church.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Everybody knew the Stirling Church, it was such a poignant building.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n