A number of fire personnel were needed to battle a blaze at an “abandoned house” on Worcester Street on Thursday night.
A police spokesperson said they were notified of the fire at a vacant property on Worcester Street, between Barbadoes Street and Fitzgerald Avenue, at 10.45pm yesterday.
“We will be working with FENZ to determine the cause/circumstances of the fire,” they said.
A neighbour told chrislynchmedia.com that the property at 226 Worcester Street is “an old abandoned house that tends to have homeless people squatting in it”.
Another local resident said the property had been empty since the 2011 earthquake and “had been hit once again by arson where several fire trucks and police are in attendance”.
“Over the past few years the property has been frequented by homeless people and the council have been notified but nothing has ever been done about it … the property has been hit by arson several times now and should had been demolished years ago however it still stands and is very much a haven to our homeless,” they said.
“The homeless people that were always around the property used to light fires to keep themselves warm.”
As reported by chrislynchmedia.com in 2020, frustrated Worcester Street residents have been calling on the Christchurch City Council for a number of years to “either find the owner and get the damn house demolished or the council take ownership of the property and do something about it”.
At the time they said, “The front yard is full of junk, overgrown weeds and is pretty much an eyesore in the community.”
A used needle, soiled sheets, used toilet paper, and a strong smell of urine came from the property, they said.
In 2020, a nearby resident said that Fire and Emergency were also notified due to the junk in the front yard being a fire risk.
At the time council Head of Regulatory Compliance Tracey Weston said council staff were aware of the history associated with the property and had recently received a new complaint, which they were currently investigating.
“We are working together with other agencies to address issues relating to this property. As this is a current investigation we cannot comment further at this time,” Weston said in 2020.
The council is yet to comment on Thursday night’s incident.
