Sprinklers are a must in any new building or those being refurbished, New Zealand Fire Service area commander Keith McIntosh yesterday said in a statement, following the Friday fire that destroyed a Shotover St building which had no sprinklers.
''Sprinklers can often extinguish a fire when it first starts and are designed to control its spread, which limits the damage.
''In rural areas it can take 10 to 20 minutes for a fire appliance to arrive, and in that time, the home can be lost,'' Mr McIntosh said.
Yesterday, Southern Region Fire Safety Officer Stuart Ide was still investigating the fire, which is thought to have started from a deep fryer in Fat Badgers Pizza and spread upstairs to the World Bar.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden praised the volunteer firefighters who battled the blaze. When asked whether there had been any calls for an aerial ladder truck to replace the one Queenstown once had, she said she had not heard any.
An aerial ladder truck had to be brought from Invercargill to help fight the fire.
The World Bar marketing manager Chris Barnhart said the bar was ''committed to a rebuild'' and exploring options.
When spoken to during the weekend, New Zealand Professional Firefighters' Union Southern Branch president Denis Fitzmaurice said the volunteer firefighters served Queenstown well.
''If the Fire Service is looking at this particular incident and just the way Queenstown's grown in the last number of years, perhaps it's time to look again at whether there is a paid presence in the town. Not saying they replace the volunteers, but maybe there's a chance for a combination,'' Mr Fitzmaurice said.
Both the bar and pizza restaurant were extensively damaged.
