Wellington cafe owner John David is relieved his precious coffee machine has survived a fire - he just doesn't have a cafe to put it in. His cafe Cubita was badly damaged yesterday morning by a fire in the Saatchi & Saatchi building on the corner of Taranaki St and Courtenay Place. About 50 firefighters battled the fire, which sent smoke drifting over much of the central city and attracted a crowd of bystanders. Mr David fears it could be three or four months before he can open the cafe again. It had been open only seven months.
"All the walls have been damaged with the smoke and the water, and one of the walls has been basically burnt out."
Watching firefighters check the building yesterday morning, Mr David was anxious about the fate of his wooden and glass coffee machine, one of only two of its kind in New Zealand. He was later relieved to find it was okay. But a large mural of a Cuban street scene was damaged. He plans to have it repainted. He had just opened the cafe for the day when he and other staff members smelt smoke. Going to the back of the cafe, to the car park, they saw a "big fire" at the back of Burger Fuel. Next door, Burger Fuel shift manager Chris Sadler was alerted by the fire alarm.
"I opened the back door and there was a lot of fire. It came in the door."
Mr David said he had recently managed to secure coffee imports from Cuba and the supply was due to turn up within weeks.
"Hopefully the coffee will be here soon, but where are we going to sell it?"
The firefighters had done a great job -
including giving him hugs, he said.
Deputy chief fire officer Gavin Dunphy said the fire's cause was still being investigated but it was not suspicious. It appeared an electrical fault in Burger Fuel's fume extraction system could be the cause.
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Originally Posted by yungatart
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