A large café tore through a block of shops in the small North Island town of Waipu, gutting three business including the Waipu Café Deli. The café posted about the incident on Facebook.
“Yes unfortunately it’s all true, our beloved café burnt down last night, along with our neighbours, Harker Herbals and Waipu Pharmacy,” the post read. “Thankfully nobody was hurt. We are grateful for all of fire fighters of Waipu/Ruakaka/Whangarei areas for their efforts in fighting lasts nights tragedy in our community. The Deli Girls have all gathered together today to support our amazing boss, and each other.”
"We're trying to make reality of it all,” said café manager Toni Nathan, who was alerted to the fire at 3am by her brother. “We're such a small town, it's heartbreaking for everybody.”
Despite the café being “burnt to the ground”, Nathan was philosophical about the loss.
"We all love our job and we've lost something today, but we've got each other," she said. "This isn't the end for us, it's just a little hiccup."
Residents were warned to stay inside due to an asbestos risk, and there was also a power outage for most of the town after the fire caught powerlines.
