By One Network Wellington Live
It was early in the morning on June 7, 2023, when Wellington woke up to something awful. Smoke filled the sky, and it was coming from Shelly Bay, a spot on the Miramar Peninsula that lots of people care about. A big old building called Shed 8, sometimes nicknamed the “sawtooth building” because of its funny roof, was on fire. By the time the sun came up, it was gone—just a pile of ashes and broken bits. Almost two years later, here we are in March 2025, and we still don’t know what really happened. The police said the fire looked dodgy, like someone might have started it on purpose, but they never found out for sure. Why not? Why does Shelly Bay feel like a place full of secrets? At One Network Wellington Live, we’ve been digging into this story, talking to people, and trying to figure out why the truth is so hard to find.
That night started like any other. It was nearly 3 a.m., and most people in Wellington were asleep. Then the phone calls started. People rang Fire and Emergency New Zealand, saying they could see flames. When the firefighters got there, Shed 8 was already burning hard. It was a big building, about 50 metres long and 40 metres wide, made of wood and metal. They brought four fire engines, two tall ladder trucks, and a water tanker, but it wasn’t enough. The fire was too strong. A lady from the fire service, Alison Munn, said it was “well-involved,” which just means it was burning everywhere. There was no saving it.
A man called Justin Harris lives near Shelly Bay. He was driving home when he saw the smoke. “I was on Evans Bay road,” he told us, “and I thought, ‘Oh no, that’s close.’ When I got home, the sky was all orange. It was scary, like a movie, but it was real.” Lots of people in Wellington saw it too. They watched from across the water as the fire ate up a building that meant something to them. Shed 8 wasn’t just any old place. It was built a long time ago, back when Shelly Bay was a busy spot for the navy. It stored things for ships and had a tough, strong look. By 2023, it was empty and falling apart, but some people still loved it. They wanted to keep it safe because it was part of the city’s history.
The police didn’t waste time saying the fire looked strange. They called it “suspicious.” That’s a big word that means they thought it might not have started by itself. The building had no people inside, and the power was turned off, so it couldn’t have been a spark from a wire. “We can’t say what caused it because the building is too damaged,” the police said the next day. “But it’s suspicious because no one was there, and there was no electricity.” That made people wonder. Did someone set the fire? If so, who? And why?
Lots of folks had ideas. A group called Buy Back the Bay, who wanted to save Shed 8, were really upset. Their leader, Mary Varnham, said, “This looks like someone did it on purpose. A big building like that doesn’t just catch fire.” Her group had been fighting to stop the building from being knocked down. They even took the council to court over it. To them, the fire felt like bad luck that came at just the right time for the people who didn’t want Shed 8 around. “We’re heartbroken,” Mary told us. “But we’re also cross. Why didn’t the police treat it like a crime? Why didn’t they look harder?”
Then there’s another strange thing. People say the water pipes at Shelly Bay were cut five days before the fire. We heard this from someone who lives nearby, though the council never said it happened exactly then. They did say a water pipe got broken by big machines doing building work “a couple of months ago.” That’s not the same as five days, but it still matters. If the pipes were cut—whether five days before or earlier—it meant there wasn’t much water to fight the fire. The firefighters had to use a tanker and water from the harbour instead. That’s harder and slower. Some wonder if it was an accident, or if someone planned it so the fire would win. “It’s too weird,” Justin Harris said. “First the pipes, then the fire? It doesn’t feel right.”
To get why this fire is such a big deal, we need to talk about Shelly Bay itself. It’s a pretty place by the sea, but it’s been a mess for years. A long time ago, it was a navy base. Then, in 2009, a group called Taranaki Whānui got most of the land as part of a deal with the government. They sold it to a company called The Wellington Company in 2017 to build lots of houses—350 of them, plus shops and stuff. It was going to cost $500 million. The council kept a little bit of the land, including where Shed 8 was, and let the company use it. But not everyone was happy. Some people wanted Shelly Bay to stay open for everyone, not turned into fancy homes. They protested for ages—525 days, starting in 2020. They camped out there, trying to stop it.
The man behind the building plan, Ian Cassels, kept going even though people were mad. There were fights in court, worries about old dangerous stuff like asbestos, and a wharf that was falling apart. Shed 8 was part of the argument. The council said it could be knocked down in August 2023, but the fire got there first. That’s why some think it was too perfect. “They wanted it gone,” Mary Varnham said. “The fire fixed everything for them—no more court, no more trouble.” The Wellington Company said they were sad to lose the building because they planned to use its wood for other things. But not everyone believes them.
So what did the police do? Not much, it seems. They looked at the burned building at first, but then they said they couldn’t go back until the council made it safe. Big machines came in to move the broken bits, and the fire people stayed to stop any leftover flames. By the time the police could check again, everything was a mess. If there was proof—like a can of petrol or a match—it was probably gone. “The damage was too bad to find the cause,” the police kept saying. That didn’t sit well with people. Why didn’t they try harder? Why didn’t they keep the place locked up so no one could mess with it?
Mary from Buy Back the Bay thinks it’s a dodge. “They should’ve treated it like a proper crime scene,” she said. “Instead, they let it get cleaned up too fast.” The council said there was asbestos, which is dangerous, so they had to move quick. That’s why Shelly Bay Road was shut for months after. But even when it opened again in September 2023, the police didn’t say anything new. We asked them this year, and they said the case is still “open,” but nothing’s happened since 2023. If you call their number—105—and use the file number 230607/9584, they don’t have much to tell you.
Other fires get more attention. A few years ago, a place called Loafers Lodge burned down in Wellington, and five people died. The police worked hard on that one and found someone who started it. So why not Shelly Bay? Maybe they didn’t have enough people or money. Or maybe it’s because Shed 8 was old and empty, so no one died. Some think it’s bigger than that. “Too many important people wanted this to go away,” a man who used to work for the council told us. He didn’t want his name used. “It’s easier to forget it than dig into who might be behind it.”
The fire hurt more than just the building. A little café nearby, called Chocolate Fish, had to close for months. The owner, John Pennington, was upset. “We’ve had protests, building work, and now this fire,” he said back then. “It’s tough.” People like Justin Harris miss how Shelly Bay used to look. “It’s not just about Shed 8,” he said. “It’s about what this place meant to us.” For Taranaki Whānui, it’s even harder. Some liked the house-building idea because it could make money. Others thought it was wrong to sell their land. The fire made those fights worse. “We’re still arguing about it in court,” one person from the group told us, keeping their name secret. “The fire feels like another thing we didn’t control.”
Now, in March 2025, Shelly Bay is quiet but different. A famous man, Sir Peter Jackson, bought some of the land after the fire. He might do something new with it, but Shed 8 is still gone. Its ashes sit there, like a reminder of what happened. We don’t know if it was arson or just bad luck. The police didn’t find out, and it feels like they didn’t really try. At One Network Wellington Live, we keep asking: why? Was it easier to let it go? Did someone big want it hushed up?
The fire from June 7, 2023, is over, but it’s not finished. It showed us a city stuck between old and new, between making money and keeping history. Wellington deserves to know what happened. Until someone fights for the truth—until we chase this mystery like the firefighters chased those flames—we’re left with nothing. Just a whisper in the wind, asking: why didn’t anyone care enough to find out?