14 Dec 2008

Meteorite possible cause of major fire

7:02 pm on 14 December 2008

Fire safety investigators are including a meteorite as the possible cause of a major fire in a commercial drycleaners in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on Saturday night.

The blaze started just after 10.30pm in what's called the Olympic building on MacKelvie Street and destroyed the two storey building.

Senior Fire Safety Officer Roy Warren says the fire is not considered suspicious and all accidental sources were being looked at, including a meteorite.

He says it's been taken seriously until it can be either discounted as a cause or shown to be the cause of the fire.

Mr Warren says the owner of the building, who had accidentally locked himself inside when the fire started, is lucky to be alive.