Fire kills family dogs | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

A brother and sister with big plans for their growing bach-building business aren't daunted by a suspected arson which almost destroyed their livelihood and killed two beloved dogs in Napier yesterday.

The fire was reported at Easybach in Lever St in the Ahuriri industrial district shortly before 6am. It gutted the living quarters of builder Jamie Maindonald, 32, who was absent for the night, and claimed once-abandoned labrador Jimi and 16-month-old Jack Russell terrier, Hendrix.

As well as the loss of the two pets, valuable tools were badly damaged and company records lost, said sister and business partner Kylie Baker, 36.

But the company's show home on the corner of Lever and Domett streets was unharmed.

The dogs had become identities in the area in their own right.

``It is a tragedy, and Jamie is in a lot of shock,'' she said.

``But he's all right. He could have been there, it's everything to him, he was there 24/7, and it could have been worse.''

That he wasn't can possibly be put down to the Magpies win over Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup rugby match.

They, other family and friends sat in the new Graeme Lowe Stand, and celebrated afterwards. Kylie was the sober driver for the day and Jamie stayed out for the night.

She learnt of the fire after arriving at the scene about an hour after the call, and while almost 30 firefighters from Napier and Hastings were searching the gutted flat, a workshop at the rear, and large adjoining warehouse stacked with timber.

The two had each returned to Hawke's Bay from overseas to start the business as a two-person back-yard operation and took the opportunity to move into Ahuriri and expand when the chance came early last year.

``It will be a lot for us to pick up, but we are on a roll. We've got some great things happening in the next few months.''

Fire service Senior Station Officer Bryan Dunphy, of Napier, said the first alarm, just before 5.40am, came from the warehouse's alarm system, directing crews to the Ossian St end of the building.

A 111 call less than four minutes later diverted the first appliances to the ``confirmed'' fire, and flames were coming from the front of the building when they arrived.

With early reports suggesting up to four people might have been trapped, the call went to a third alarm, with six appliances, a hose-layer, and specialist hazardous material and control units at the scene as firefighters using breathing apparatus searched the smoke-filled buildings.

No one was found but Napier CIB Detective Scott Dunn said a 36-year-old man was arrested for obstruction at the scene.

Mr Dunn confirmed the cause was being treated as suspicious and police were seeking witnesses to any activity in the vicinity in the hours before the fire.

Ms Baker said they had not had previous burglaries, although people's vehicles had been broken into, and a nearby ``kindy'' was burgled on Friday night, with a laptop computer being stolen.