Despite the destruction of about 15 historic buildings each year in New Zealand from fire, protection for them is up to the owners and local authorities, says the area manager of the Historic Places Trust.
In the aftermath of a fire on Wednesday at Arrowtown's Stables Restaurant, a category two New Zealand Historic Places Trust building, the Arrowtown acting chief officer Mark Woodham said if firefighters had been called five minutes later, they would not have been able to save the old stone and wooden building.
This week's fire, which is believed to have started in a clothes dryer, resulted in tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to part of the building, but fortunately left the historic part undamaged, he said.
Southern Regional Fire safety officer Barry Gibson said the building did not have smoke alarms or a sprinkler system.
However, protecting such historic buildings from fire came under the building legislation and was the local authorities' role, not the Historic Places Trust, said trust Otago-Southland area manager Owen Graham.
He acknowledged there was a perception in the public arena that a trust rating gave protection to a building, but registration was a "recognition only", not a protection, he explained.
"Historic Places Trust can't require owners to do things."
The protection, if any, came through a territorial authority district plan, or Resource Management Act requirements, if owners applied for consents to make changes to a building, when the trust was involved as an interested party, Mr Graham, added.
Statistics provided by the trust showed about 93% of heritage buildings involved in fires did not have fire or heat detection systems.
Fire protection was not cheap, Arrowtown developer Gary Mullings said. In his Emporium building, near the Stables Restaurant on Arrowtown's Buckingham St, installation of a sprinkler system was costing between $30,000 and $40,000. The fire safety report recommending it had cost an extra $8000, Mr Mullings added.
Mr Graham acknowledged such protection was expensive when re-developing historic buildings, and that was why owners needed to embark on projects fully informed.
"They have to weigh up the benefits of a redevelopment."
New Zealand Insurance Council insurance manager John Lucas said it was up to individual insurance companies to specify fire protection - his organisation did not impose requirements but provided guidelines.
"They're free to choose the risks they like."
There were no requirements for historic buildings or restaurants to have smoke alarms or sprinkler systems, but there was generally a recommendation to have alarms and sprinklers in accommodation premises, he said.
