After three of the most difficult trading years in his business’ 20-year history, Mr Frew was woken yesterday by a phone call from his landlord’s son, Mike Cooper, who was in Wellington, letting him know his restaurant building was on fire.
About 45 volunteer firefighters from Queenstown, Frankton and Arrowtown, along with a command unit from Alexandra, spent hours battling the blaze in one of the resort’s most iconic heritage buildings.
Designed by noted architect F.W. Burwell, the Heritage New Zealand category 2-listed schist building — initially home to Queenstown’s Lake County Council chambers — opened in 1881.
It was bought by former mayor Warren Cooper in 1999, and Speight’s opened soon after.
Mr Cooper could not be reached for comment yesterday afternoon.
Queenstown Chief Fire Officer Terry O’Connell said Fire and Emergency New Zealand was first alerted about 7am when a private fire alarm was activated.
While he said on arrival fire crews found a "very serious fire" in the kitchen of the building had gone through the ducts and into the roof space, Mr Frew said the fire’s origin and cause had not yet been determined by investigators, who were on the scene yesterday afternoon.
No-one was in Speight’s when the fire started, he said.
"They were on to it pretty quick — it was difficult, because it’s an old building and it’s a bit of a rabbit warren upstairs; there are a few false ceilings, so it wasn’t the easiest to get out.
"But they managed to get to it and get it out before it spread to any of the buildings beside ... so well contained and well executed by the fire department, I’d have to say," Mr Frew said.
CFO O’Connell said it had proven "reasonably difficult" to get into the roof space, access having been gained from a corner facing Ballarat St before the fire was progressively attacked from the top.
"That’s been a bit of a challenge, because the roof’s been well involved," he said.
Smoke billowing from under the eves of the roof could be seen across Queenstown’s CBD early yesterday morning. While it was under control by about 9am, fire crews remained on the scene for several hours.
Stanley St, between Coronation Dr and Shotover St, and Ballarat St, between Henry St and Camp St, were closed off until about noon while fire crews extinguished the blaze.
Mr O’Connell said there was a "significant amount of damage" in the roof and Speight’s Ale House’s kitchen, but the fire did not reach adjoining office buildings and apartments, part of the same complex.
It was not clear, however, if any of those buildings had sustained smoke damage.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Mat Woods said he had not been inside its offices yesterday — which are partly above Speight’s — to check for any such damage.
Mr Frew had also not been able to see the aftermath for himself yesterday, but firefighters informed him the damage was "extensive".
Until he was able to access the damage, he could not say how long it would be before the iconic restaurant and bar would be open again to the public.
He was fully insured and believed business interruption insurance had a staffing component he could access to help his staff.
While the situation was less than ideal, Mr Frew was trying to remain optimistic yesterday.
"It has happened, so we just have to try to deal with it the best we can.
"I’ve had, as you can imagine, half a million texts and phone calls since this morning, which is lovely, that everyone’s reaching out to pass on their thoughts and wishes.
"A swarm of locusts is the only thing we haven’t had ... Brace yourselves."
