Loafers Lodge Tragedy Leaves Lasting Impact on Wellingtonians

Wellington City is grieving after the deadly house fire at Loafers Lodge in Newtown last Tuesday morning, which has so far claimed at least six lives. At the time of writing, 11 people remain unaccounted for, and 50 people are currently displaced. The fire, which started just after 12 a.m., has raised concerns around the safety regulations for emergency accommodation and boarding houses.

Loafers Lodge provided both short and long term accommodation to some of the cities most vunerable. The hostel’s 90 rooms were a support to mostly lower-income communities and marginalised groups, particularly those on disability or sickness benefits, elderly, the previously homeless, previously incarcerated, and deportees from Australia. It was also home to nursing and hospital staff who were unable to find affordable accommodation near the hospital.

“My heart goes out to the families impacted by this. I've been constantly amazed by the fire and emergency service, as well the police, for doing such a phenomenal job,” Mayor Tory Whanau told RNZ’s Checkpoint on Tuesday evening. Whanau and Wellington City Council (WCC) have been organising response to the fire, finding emergency accommodation, food, and clothing for evacuees—including allocating $50,000 to Whanau’s mayoral relief fund.

Bella, a nearby resident, lives only a few buildings down from the Loafers Lodge. “It was just after midnight when I heard someone running down the street yelling ‘Help! Help! Fire! Fire!’,” they said. “By the time I got to our living room window, there were already three firetrucks and multiple ambulances pulling up on John Street. I could see smoke billowing out the top story of Loafers Lodge.” Bella didn’t realise the extent of the fire’s damage until it made headlines that morning. With warnings about possible asbestos risk from the fire, they closed their apartment windows and stayed indoors for the day.

“The whole neighbourhood shut down, everyone’s been in collective mourning,” recounted Salient chief reporter Niamh Vaughan, another nearby resident. “I couldn’t sleep the night after. Some of my neighbours, people I’ve walked past on the street, people I shared the local shops with, are still in that building.”

On Wednesday morning, fire investigators and Urban Search and Rescue were able to enter the building. Some residents who escaped the fire say that they did not hear fire alarms go off on Tuesday night. Loafers Lodge was not required to be retroactively fitted with emergency sprinklers, as modern buildings are. Despite this, the building was issued with a warrant of fitness by WCC in March this year.

The event will leave both physical and emotional scars on those involved, and on the community, for some time. “I’m still finding it difficult to sleep or even be in our apartment knowing what’s going on over there [...], that there are still people missing who could be trapped inside,” Bella said.

Salient wishes to pass on condolences to the friends and family of those lost in the fires, and to the Newtown community impacted by the tragedy.