The fire in a back porch of St Joseph's Catholic Church, on Stanners St, Eltham, is being treated as suspicious.

About 9 am, smoke was spotted coming out of the church by two men working on a house renovation across the road.

Neil Shotter immediately phoned Fire and Emergency, while Colin Ogle ran in his gumboots to tell firefighters who were putting out another fire near the Eltham Town Hall.

"We saw the fire brigade down there, then we noticed the smoke from the church, and it was blowing the other way," Ogle said.

The two suspicious fires in Eltham have kept emergency services busy.

Belinda Beets, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) Central shift manager, says fire appliances from Eltham, Kaponga and Stratford were called out to attend the fires.

Fire and Emergency specialist fire investigator Andrew Cotter said the cause of the church fire was not yet known, but confirmed it was being treated as suspicious.

The speed that the fire was contained saved the church from severe damage.

"It's a big timber building. If it had developed a bit, it would have been a different story, as far as we know that building doesn't have a fire alarm system and at this time on a Thursday was probably unoccupied."

The chief fire officer of the Eltham Volunteer Fire Brigade, Dave Waite, had upgraded the fire to a second alarm due to the size of the building, but it was quickly brought under control, he said.

A police spokesperson at the scene said police were working with FENZ staff.

The earlier fire was in a skip bin near the Eltham Town Hall.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

The fire has devastated the community, Parish chairman Collin Fromont said.

Mr Fromont said he had not seen the inside of the building, but its roof had been destroyed.

"It's a great family parish we have at Philomena so it's not just going to affect the older parishioners, it's going to affect the kids as well," Mr Fromont said.

The church was insured and while it is "early days", at the moment Mr Fromont said he assumed it would be rebuilt.

Central fire communications shift manager Mike Wanoa said at the height of the blaze about 35 firefighters, seven appliances and supporting units were battling the fire.

It took about an hour to get the fire under control and some crews were still at the site dampening down hotspots, Mr Wanoa said.

The cause was not yet known, but a fire investigator would begin an inquiry into how it started.

Nobody was injured in the blaze and no other buildings damaged, Mr Wanoa said.

Sources

• NZ Herald
• Image: Stuff

More than 1000 people attended the mass at the TSB stadium in New Plymouth.

The Bishop of Palmerston North, Charles Drennan, whose Diocese covers Taranaki as well as Manawatu, Hawke's Bay and Northern Wairarapa said Sunday's mass was the first of several regional masses to be held this year.

Drennan also confirmed 22 young people. Confirmation organiser and team leader Ellen Hall said the group of teenagers had been preparing to reaffirm their Christian commitment since May 6. The group had been meeting regularly to learn and talk about the ceremony and what it would mean.

Father Craig Butler, the parish priest of New Plymouth, said it was usual during mass to pray for the sick or those who had died.

He said the congregation had prayed for New Plymouth Boys' High School student Nikolao Meafua, 16, whose body was found on the rocks at Kawaroa last week.

"Often if there has been something significant happen we will name the people involved, as we mentioned Niko."

Source

• Taranaki Daily News
• Image: Andy Jackson/Fairfax NZ

The sweet sounds were a part of the celebrations of the national Catholic Schools Day, an event that happens every three years.

St Joseph's Catholic School student Asia-Rose Blowfield, 9, said it was nice to see so many different children in the church for mass.

The school's director of religious studies, Anna Mace, said each Catholic school across New Zealand was honouring the day, and the New Plymouth schools had decided to celebrate together.

"It's a very special day for us, it's a day to celebrate our Catholicity and get all of the students in the same room." Continue reading