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A close call for a Rotoiti Marae this weekend is a reminder for marae to get a fire safety check.
Fire Services national Maori advisor Piki Thomas says Rotorua crews called out to Tauroa Marae on the shores of Lake Rotoiti on Saturday afternoon for an electrical power caused by what appears to have been a power surge.
He says the fire was extinguished without damage to the main meeting house, which had been fitted with wired-in smoke alarms and a rear door.
Mr Thomas says the fire service offers a free assessment service for marae, which has been taken up at iwi level like Tainui and Tuwharetoa.
"Particularly for those marae that are in some way being funded from a central iwi repository, they insist they have our visits where we come in and take photos and make fire safety recommendations and Tainui and Ngati Tuwharetoa are right into that system now, and we also keep a record of that," he says.
Mr Thomas says the check means the Fire Service has information to hand on things like the closest water supply, phone numbers for people to help get into the building and who the territorial authorities are.
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