Fire investigators are at the scene of a suspicious blaze at the former Queen Mary Hospital site in Hanmer Springs.
Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Jill Higginson told chrislynchmedia.com crews were called to the fire at the historic residential alcohol and drug treatment hospital at 3.47am.
Sandi Jacks
By the time crews arrived, the fire was “well involved,” she said.
The blaze occurred in a smaller building, measuring 20 by 10 metres, rather than the main hospital complex.
Three fire appliances and a tanker from Hanmer Springs and Culverden responded to the scene.
Originally established in 1916 to care for returning World War I servicemen, the hospital was built on the grounds of a former sanatorium dating back to 1879.
From the 1920s through the 1960s, it expanded its services to address various mental health conditions, before evolving in the 1970s into the country’s specialist centre for addiction and alcohol treatment.
The hospital closed its doors in November 2003.
In 2004, Heritage New Zealand designated the former Queen Mary Hospital and Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve Historic Area as a historic site.
