Fire in built environment
Details
This is an expired event!
Event title
New Zealand - Old church extensively damaged by fire
Source
Severity
Low
Event date (UTC)
2026-07-13 15:51:42
Last update (UTC)
2026-07-13 15:51:42
Area range
Local event
Address/Affected area(s)
Balclutha, Clutha District, Otago Region
Firefighters spent several hours extinguishing a church fire that was well-involved near Balclutha on Saturday.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said five crews were dispatched to the blaze in Baker St, Stirling, from about 6.20pm.
They found ‘‘an old church was well ablaze’’ and worked to extinguish it.
‘‘We were there a considerable amount of time while we fully extinguished the fire...’’
The church was quite large and sustained ‘‘extensive damage’’.
Firefighters left the scene about 12.30am yesterday.
A fire investigator was looking into the blaze’s cause and it was not being treated as suspicious at this stage, the spokesman said. — Allied Media
Otago Daily Times