Young Ashburton men’s antics spark fire evacuation callout
Two young Ashburton men allegedly caused havoc while filming themselves doing it, sparking a fire alarm at 8.30pm on Saturday, 20 September, at Nomads Backpackers.
The fiasco sent some 270 guests and occupants evacuating onto Church Street and local volunteer firefighters racing to respond.
Sergeant Tracy Haggart says the pair, aged 22 and 20, who were visiting Queenstown, entered Nomads through the main door with no reason to be there. One then allegedly pulled the emergency fire hose out and unravelled it while the other filmed him.
Haggart says the man then allegedly attempted to pull the unit off the wall causing some damage to the housing around the fire hose.
“He then entered the fire exit stairwell and allegedly pushed the fire alarm activation and ran off,” she says.
The 22-year-old was charged with wilful damage and giving a false alarm of fire and will appear in the Ashburton District Court on Monday. The 20-year-old has been charged with wilful damage and will appear in Ashburton on Tuesday.
