The brigade was called about 10am on Saturday and arrived to find the roof of a house had indeed been lifted — but not by the wind.
The roof had disappeared overnight, apparently by torchlight.
Chief fire officer Lee Swinburn said he had not encountered the likes of it before. No action was taken by the brigade but the incident is now under police investigation.
The house at 68 Blake St, directly opposite the old Blaketown Dairy, has been condemned and vacant for some time.
A near neighbour noticed strange goings-on late on Friday night when he opened the curtains.
"I saw lights flashing up on the roof but I didn't hear a thing. There were maybe two or three people with torches moving around. The roof was screwed on, so they were using battery drills to take the screws out."
The witness thought the sheets of iron were possibly taken away in silence by a light truck and trailer.
"It was too dark to make out much. It was weird too, the police drove past and they stopped and looked at it. I dare say they are the ones who notified the Fire Service. The fire brigade turned up the next day and drove off again too. It was very strange to me."
He initially thought the removal may have been part of demolition plans, albeit under the cover of darkness.
"I thought they were getting it ready to put a dozer through it, and that they were taking the roof off first."
The Grey District Council confirmed to the Greymouth Star that a notice has been issued under section 124 of the Building Act.
"This unsanitary building notice has been issued, as well as a notice to fix, due to the condition of the property. Part of the notice includes a direction ... excluding anyone from the address until a building consent is issued and repairs are under way or the building is demolished."
The council said the removal of the roofing iron "is likely to have caused additional damage to the property with the heavy rain on Monday morning".
"While there is no immediate risk to the building falling down, the building is unsafe and should not be entered."
Police said today they were looking into the incident.
- Meg Fulford
