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Story: Fires and fire services

Sprott House fire

Sprott House fire

A fire at Sprott House rest home in Karori, Wellington in 1969 nearly gutted the building. Thirteen residents, all elderly women, were rescued, but seven died. This disaster led to a tightening of the regulations to require sprinklers, automatic alarms and evacuation schemes in institutions such as rest homes and hospitals.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: Gavin Mclean, Fires & Firefighting. Wellington: Grantham House, 1992, p.114

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Fires and fire services – Towards a national fire service, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21877/sprott-house-fire (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 10 March 2010.

Comments

Glenda Johnson
28 March 2012
did you know that one of the Sprott House staff of the time has just had a book published including a huge amount of material/information/personal photos on this fire? She says it was arson, has some minor proof, and a very interesting and possibly valid theory as to how that was done. She also says that her concerns were brushed off at the time by fire investigators and that she was deliberately shut out of the inquest for fear of her repeating that there - as well as pointing out a whole stack of stuff going on at the time that was very peculiar if not illegal.