That was the question Queenstown’s Speight’s Ale House owner Clark Frew posed inside what remains of his CBD restaurant and bar following a devastating fire on Sunday morning.
Fire crews were first alerted to a private fire alarm about 7am — on arrival, they discovered a fire had started in the kitchen, travelled up the ducts and into the roof space.
At its peak, 45 volunteer firefighters were working to bring the blaze under control to save the Heritage NZ category 2-listed building, which dates back to 1881, and buildings around it.
Fire and Emergency NZ investigators determined the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the kitchen — which was completely destroyed.
There was water and smoke damage throughout the building, on the corner of Ballarat and Stanley Sts, with debris strewn across the floor, water-filled light fixtures, holes in the ceiling, water dripping from the roof, and plaster from the walls and ceilings everywhere.
Mr Frew, keeping his trademark sense of humour, commented while the fire had produced "some great smoked ale", it "might need more than a Chux cloth" to clean the building up.
"Reality’s biting," he said.
"It’s not the easiest thing we’ve gone through, to be fair [but] there was no-one [in] here, and that makes it a lot easier."
His wife, Rhonda, said the extent of the situation was sinking in.
"It’s just the next step — you’re looking around going, ‘bloody hell’."
But the couple were also trying to keep everything in perspective.
"Other people are dying, so ... you’ve got to keep that in the back of your mind as well."
She said they’ve been completely overwhelmed by the support from the Wakatipu community, and others all over the country.
"The phones just don’t stop going, really; it’s been amazing."
Mr Frew said it’ll be a "significant rebuild", one likely to take months.
"It’d be nice to open for Christmas, whether or not that’s possible, [I’m not sure]."
He was also full of praise for his landlord, former mayor Warren Cooper — who celebrated his 90th birthday with his family at Speight’s last month — who was watching on Sunday.
"Warren’s an absolute gentleman, a heart of gold, he’s a champion," Mr Frew said.
"His first concerns were for us, not his building."
Mr Frew said there’ll be a "band of merry men helping" with the clean-up, and while he doesn’t need anything from the wider community right now, "their support moving forward would be great".
