Podcasts about loafers lodge

Three people - a 70-year-old woman and two men aged 75 and 58 - have appeared in court facing manslaughter charges over the Loafers Lodge blaze in 2023, that left five people dead. Association of Building Compliance chief executive Trent Fernley spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

When we talk about travel nightmares, we often picture what lurks outside - dark alleys, strangers with bad intentions, stories that begin with a missed train or a wrong run. But sometimes… the danger is already inside. Today, we're opening the door on something even more haunting: fire.  Sudden. Consuming, Unforgiving. Because for some travelers, the scariest part of their journey wasn't a distant unknown - it was their bed. Their room. The place they thought they were safest. In this episode, we're telling the stories of four devastating hostel fires: The Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel in Australia, where young backpackers from around the world came chasing sunshine and freedom - and never made it home. The Downunder Hostel fire in Sydney, Australia - where a broken alarm system and locked exits turned a simple stay into a fatal trap. A fire in Riga, Latvia - swift and deadly - inside an illegal hostel that should never have been open at all. And the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington, New Zealand, where residents living in budget rooms were left scrambling for their lives in the early hours of the morning. Each of these stories is different. But they all ask the same, terrifying question: What happens when your escape route disappears?This isn't about fear. It's about awareness. Because travel should feel like possibility, not risk.  Hostels should be spaces of laughter and late-night stories - not loss.So stay with me, as we retrace the final hours inside these hostels. We'll ask what went wrong… and what we can learn from the people who never got the chance to check out. Do you have a story to share? Send your email to lasttrippodcast@gmail.com We're on YouTube with full video: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcast Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/ And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcast Listen to this week's podcast recommendation, A Scary State Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-scary-state/id1562755130   Theme Music by Roger Allen Dexter Sources: https://www.smh.com.au/national/childers-danger-known-say-families-20030620-gdgyl4.html https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/backpackers-unlawfully-killed-hostel-fire-2265489 https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/survivors-remember-childers-fire-a-decade-on-ng-ya-207764 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-02/childers-backpacker-hostel-killer-has-parole-bid-rejected/13114808 https://www.smh.com.au/national/childers-hostel-blaze-survivors-want-psychopath-killer-to-die-behind-bars-20200604-p54zj6.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2000/06/fire-j30.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/1387948/Loner-found-guilty-of-hostel-arson-murders.html https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19890917&id=yNE9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B4cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4507,2248979 https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/a-tragic-toll-building-fires-in-australia/news-story/647ba30dc34a6d279f392a2f18bb2851 https://www.iklimnet.com/hotelfires/case19.html https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/latvia-fire-riga-hostel-fire-kills-eight-people-b932170.html https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fire-illegal-riga-tourist-hostel-kills-eight-injures-nine-2021-04-28/ https://www.baltictimes.com/eight_people_die_in_fire_in_downtown_riga_hostel/ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington-hostel-fire-hearse-arrives-as-police-recover-first-body/P4WWETXKSVEHXCPGJEFHCQQT34/ https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300879640/wellington-fatal-hostel-fire-what-is-loafers-lodge https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/16/wellington-hostel-fire-multiple-people-dead-in-new-zealand-blaze https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490033/loafers-lodge-had-a-building-wof-but-what-exactly-does-that-mean https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/why-loafers-lodge-didnt-have-sprinklers-and-wellington-firefighters-fears-over-ageing-trucks/UJ6L4RSWHBDIRKQ7OYDSFCZRSU/

It's two years to the day, since a central Wellington boarding house went up in flames, killing five residents and triggering a series of inquiries into fire protections. Mary Argue reports.

The government says 37 boarding houses across the country have been assessed since last year's tragic fire at Loafers Lodge and fire safety recommendations have been completed. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk spoke to Corin Dann.

A memorial service marking the one year anniversary of the tragedy has just ended at the site of the fire on Adelaide Road. Reporter Ellen O'Dwyer spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss

It's one year to the day since a fire gutted the Loafers Lodge boarding house in central Wellington killing five people. Reporter Ellen O'Dwyer spoke to Corin Dann.

It's one year to the day since a fire gutted the Loafers Lodge boarding house in central Wellington killing five of the 92 people living there. Nick James has filed this report on the tragedy that begun just after midnight.

A central Auckland lodge decimated by a fire was among 37 boarding houses investigated after the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington. Ten people were evacuated from Parnell's City Garden Lodge yesterday afternoon, and some scrambled out of the building's windows to escape. The lodge is one of about 160 buildings used for transient accommodation, despite not having a reliable fire escape route. Lucy Xia has more.

Auckland Council has found two Loafers Lodge-type boarding houses bad enough to trigger a dangerous building notice. It's found almost half of the other 170 providers it inspected have fire safety problems that spurred less drastic but immediate fixes. Auckland's manager of building inspections Jeff Fahrensohn told our reporter Phil Pennington he's surprised at the high number - and at building owners' ignorance of their obligations.

Top stories for Monday 21 August 2023 Spain celebrates their first ever women's Football World Cup win. National is already on board with Labour's plan to make financial literacy compulsory for school students if re-elected Auckland Council delivers two dangerous building notices for housing deemed as unsafe as Loafers Lodge

A government audit, prompted by the fatal Loafers Lodge fire, has identified 70 similar multi-storey boarding houses across the country with no sprinklers. Officials will start inspecting the buildings from next month, with their findings expected to inform regulatory changes. In the wake of the fire that killed five people, the Housing Minister was asked to look into building regulations for high-density accommodation and whether they are fit for purpose. Megan Woods told our political reporter Katie Scotcher she subsequently wrote to all the country's mayors, requesting information on boarding houses in their area.

By Max Rashbrooke: While the fatal fire at Loafers Lodge has reinforced calls for greater scrutiny of boarding houses, the warning signals have been around for years.

Precious letters and photographs that survived the Loafer's Lodge fire will have to be dumped, but former tenants have won a legal battle to recover some of their property. A man has been charged with five counts of murder and two of arson in the relation to the Wellington boarding house blaze on May 16th. Many of the tenants escaped the building's deadly fire with only the clothes on their backs - and water damage and asbestos contamination has made it a nightmare to recover their personal items. Oscar Upperton, a senior lawyer at Community Law, spoke to Kim Hill.

The Auckland City Mission will work with Fire and Emergency to investigate a fire at the mission's James Liston Hostel in Freemans Bay yesterday. The small fire was quickly extinguished with sprinklers and help from firefighters. The fire happened just over a month after a blaze at Loafers Lodge in Wellington killed five people and injured twenty others. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

One month on from the Loafers Lodge fire, the man who jumped to safety rather than burn, tells Nikki Macdonald he's been given “a fighting chance to get the life I never had”. But he wonders why it took a fatal fire for people to care. You can read Nikki's story here Need more great podcasts? Check out Stuff's full catalogue here. GET IN TOUCH Feedback? We're listening! Email us at thelongread@stuff.co.nz  CREDITS Read by Nikki Macdonald Produced by Philippa Tolley Audio editing: John Ropiha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of people gathered last night at Wellington's Cathedral of Saint Paul to remember the five people killed in the Loafers Lodge fire in Newtown. People had to flee for their lives in the May disaster with one man jumping out a window and others being rescued from the burning roof. Almost hundred people were left homeless, and a 48-year-old man has been charged with five counts of murder.

By David Cohen: The death of Mike 'the juggler' Wahrlich in the Loafers Lodge fire prompts Cohen to examine Mike's past.

How do some of society's most vulnerable people – men in particular – fall into insecure housing?

A memorial service will be held in Wellington for the Loafers Lodge residents who died in last month's fire and Georgina has details about what the money raised by the mayoral relief fund is going towards. Meanwhile a man appeared in court this week on five counts of murder related to the fatal fire. Also Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has had a tough week and she has commented that criticism of her meeting attendance is gendered. And seven city councillors have lost confidence in the Let's Get Wellington Moving.

The police have charged a 48 year old man with five counts of murder in their investigation into the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington last month. The man had already been arrested and charged on two counts of arson. A karakia has been held this morning for staff involved in the Loafers Lodge fire investigation, and our producer, Ellie Franco, was there.

Eight months before the Loafers Lodge fire, Wellington City Council was warned it wasn't completing enough fire safety checks. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) found the council was auditing 3% of buildings a year, when it should have been at least 20%. MBIE told the council in September it should do its most frequent on-site audits of the highest risk buildings, and explicitly mentioned 'budget accommodation'. Both the Wellington Mayor, Tory Whanau, and Wellington City Council chief executive, Barbara McKerrow, declined to be interviewed this morning. Phil Pennington went through the details with Ingrid Hipkiss this morning.

Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paul says it isn't good enough that Loafers Lodge was only inspected twice in a decade, when it should have been checked once per year. Councillors were briefed yesterday on their performance on building audits, which found less than 4% of buildings were being audited each year. At least 20% of buildings should be audited. Tamatha Paul spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss this morning.

Top stories for 31 May 2023 Eight months before the Loafers Lodge fire, Wellington City Council was warned it wasn't doing enough fire safety checks. A new pay deal is on the table for primary school teachers, we'll have the details. Parliament's Privileges Committee will consider whether Education Minister, Jan Tinetti deliberately misled Parliament.

The Loafers Lodge hostel fire has shone a light on some of Aotearoa's most vulnerable people, in particular older men. They struggle to find decent accomodation, often sleeping rough or finding poor or inadequate housing. The Downtown Community Ministry - a Wellington-based service says two-thirds of those who go through their doors experience homeslessness and over 50 percent are Maori. Director of the Downtown Community Ministry, Stephen Turnock, spoke to Craig McCulloch.

Hundreds of people have today marked the death of a man well-known for juggling on the streets of Wellington. Michael Wahrlich, affectionately known as Mike the Juggler, is one of five people known to have died in the Loafers Lodge fire. His is the first public funeral for a victim of the blaze. Our reporter Soumya Bhamidipati and cameraman Angus Dreaver were there.  

In the push to get more people living in higher density housing, have our fire and building regulations been left behind?

Wellington's Adelaide road has reopened to all traffic this morning, for the first time since last week's fatal fire at the Loafers Lodge hostel. The busy road has been open to just southbound traffic for a week now, as investigations continue at the site of the building fire. Reporter Hamish Cardwell was at the Adelaide Road intersection with John Street, a main commuter route for Wellington's southern suburbs.

A Wairarapa school has won its fight to not put sprinklers in a dormitory where 80 teenage boys sleep, with the help of a government ministry. Rathkeale College argued the local council's requirement to fit sprinklers would cost so much it would jeopardise its whole project to upgrade the alarms and other fire protections. The case of the Masterton boys' school has come to light amid public scrutiny about buildings that lack sprinklers, following the fatal Loafers Lodge fire last week. Reporter Phil Pennington has more.

It has been a week since the fatal fire took hold at Loafers Lodge in Wellington's Newtown. The police investigation into the fire is expected to continue for much of this week. Five bodies have been removed from the fire site. A man appeared in court on Friday charged with two counts of arson, and police have not ruled out further and more serious charges. Our reporter Jemima Huston has more.

A well known Wellington man known as "Mike the juggler" has been named as a victim of last week's Loafers Lodge fire. 67-year-old Mike Wahrlich frequented Wellington's Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place for about 30 years, and was known for his big grin as he juggled tennis balls. His sister yesterday confirmed to Stuff that he was likely one of the four confirmed victims. Wellington City councillor Tamatha Paul spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss this morning.

Urban issues correspondent Bill McKay joins Kathryn to talk about the Loafers Lodge fire and the lowdown on Building Code rules related to building fire protection. Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.

RNZ can reveal moves to bring in stronger fire protection rules for high density in-fill housing have been stymied. A year of work went into toughening up the rules to slow down the spread of fire in townhouses and other new types of intensive housing. But these were withdrawn just days before the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington last Tuesday. And as Phil Pennington reports it was partly because the housing industry is worried the changes will push up building costs.

As specialist teams were removing two more bodies from the charred ruins of Loafers Lodge. a man was appearing in court charged with arson over the fire than killed them. Four bodies have now been removed from the hostel, where a number of people died in an early morning blaze this week. The remains of two people were taken to Wellington Hospital mortuary today, and work will continue over the weekend to extract another. Jemima Huston reports.  

In Wellington, police have begun recovering bodies from the scene of the deliberately-lit Loafers Lodge fire. The fire broke out in the Newtown building just after midnight on Tuesday, but it's still unknown how many people are dead or missing. The police are expecting to retrieve two bodies today, and two more tomorrow. Meanwhile, questions are being asked about whether first responders could have got there quicker. Soumya Bhamidipati reports. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6327725717112

Residents displaced by the Loafers Lodge fire are now faced with the reality of losing their homes, a sense of community, and even their friends. Support service organisations in Wellington are rallying around to help, but it's not easy. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

Police are now treating the fatal fire at a Wellington hostel as arson, and say it was not the first fire there that night. The government has also announced it will look into whether building regulations for high density accommodation are fit for purpose. Police now start the grim task of recovering bodies from the building - and its owner says he's gutted about what's happened there. Meanwhile residents, and their family and friends, are looking to the future with uncertainty. Soumya Bhamidipati reports from Wellington.  

The deadly fire at loafers lodge has raised questions about the rights of residents living there and at other boarding houses.  What happens if they've paid rent up front? Is the building owner obliged to help them find replacement accommodation? Or could they be entitled to any compensation? 

RNZ reporter Jemima Huston reports from the scene of the Loafers Lodge fatal fire, where Fire and Emergency are soon expected to handover the building to police.

Political leaders addressed Parliament this afternoon, acknowledging the loss of life, those left displaced, and the dedicated work of police, fire and medical staff at the tragic scene at Loafers Lodge on Adelaide Road.  

In Wellington the Newtown and Mt Cook communities are in shock after the fatal fire at Loafers Lodge on Adelaide Road. Checkpoint reporter Jimmy Ellingham talks to neighbouring residents.  

There is no sprinkler system in the Loafer's Lodge, which has three residential floors and more than 90 residents. Witnesses said the fire alarms did not go off automatically, and residents ran down the corridors banging on doors telling people to get out. Wellington City Council says the lodge had a Building Warrant of Fitness issued in March this year. And there were no concerns raised by the independently qualified person who inspected and tested the life safety systems in the building. Fire protection expert Chris Mak talks to Lisa Owen.  

Residents of Wellington's Loafers Lodge were woken to plumes of smoke and roaring flames billowing out of the hostel in the early hours of this morning. Footage sent in to RNZ by one of the residents shows multiple fire trucks working to extinguish the blaze while residents watch on. Now they want answers as to why fire alarms constantly went off causing confusion early this morning when the blaze engulfed the building. Ashleigh McCaull reports.

A former tenant of Loafers Lodge says fire drills and alarms were a regular occurence but it was up to residents to decide whether to evacuate in the evenings because there was no overnight security manager. Kent Stevens told our reporter Luka Forman whilst residents were separated on different floors for security reasons, there was always a way out.  

Let's return to the devastating fire in Wellington now. Loafers Lodge was home to some deportees from Australia, known as 501s. 501 deportee advocate Filipa Payne talks to Lisa Owen.  

Firefighters first on the scene are struggling with what they encountered. The property housed a range of tenants, some of them had lived there for years, others not so long, and many of them were transient, which is making efforts to ascertain exact numbers of people who escaped more difficult. Soumya Bhamidipati reports.

A Loafers Lodge resident has described crawling on the floor through thick black smoke and running for his life, to get out of the burning building. The resident, who didn't want to give his name, told Jimmy Ellingham he was alerted to the fire by another resident.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau talks to Checkpoint reporter Jimmy Ellingham about the devastating fire at Loafers Lodge on Aidelaide Road.  

"It doesn't get worse than this." That from a fire commander at the blaze that's claimed multiple lives at Loafer's Lodge on Wellington's Adelaide Road. The building appears to have caught fire just after midnight Tuesday morning. A converted commerical property - it has rooms for more than 90 residents on the three storeys above a ground floor business. The lodge has been home to shift workers, elderly people, and deportees - what's been described as a transcient population. Residents describe crawling and running for their lives in the darkened corridors. Witnesses say the fire alarms did not initally go off, but were manually activated later. Many were alerted by other tenants banging on doors, with some witnesses saying the lodge had previously had multiple false alarms. Firefighters risked their lives to rescue people trapped on the roof with concerns it could collapse at any second. One person was forced to jump from one of the upper floors. A special urban search and resuce team is on standby to enter when it's safe. Checkpoint reporter Jimmy Ellingham is in Wellington with the latest information.

A fire engineer, who has studied short term residential accomodation, says they are four times riskier than houses.Dr Geoff Thomas's 2014 national study looked into housing similar to the 92 room Loafers Lodge in Wellington, which was destroyed by fire overnight, killing at least six people.Dr Thomas says the the lodge was not required by law to have sprinklers, but his study found low quality, unsprinklered hotel and backpacker accommodation have the highest fire fatality risk.

Six people are thought to have died in a blaze at a Wellington Hostel over night, and many residents are missing. Police have not yet confirmed the number of fatalites but estimate fewer than 10 people are likely to have perished in the fire at Loafers Lodge in Adelaide Road. At least five people have been taken to hospital, two in a serious condition. Deputy District fire commander Brendan Nally says the number of deaths are expected to rise as firefighters search the building this morning. Kathryn speaks to RNZ reporter Jemima Huston who has been at the scene of the fire this morning