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Source: ONE News -
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Arson is suspected after a massive fire at one of New Zealand's most popular skifields.
The fire gutted two buildings and badly damaged a chairlift station at Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu and the damage bill is expected to be in the millions of dollars.
Firefighters spent most of the day damping down the three storey Ridge Knoll Chalet and the nearby snow groomer workshop, at the top of the chairlift on the Whakapapa skifield.
The fires broke out around midnight, but firefighters say they had to wait till daylight because there is no road access to the top of the chairlift.
By daylight it was obvious that the two main buildings, including an attached three bedroom house, had been destroyed.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts general manager Dave Mazey says the two buildings are about 200 metres apart.
The Knoll Ridge Chalet was one of the main service buildings on the Whakapapa ski slopes and housed a cafe, shops, toilets and other services for skiers.
The terminal building of the Waterfall Express chairlift, which is about 10 metres from the destroyed chalet building, was also damaged by the fire but Mazey says he is confident the chairlift mechanism will not be affected and the chair will be operating when the season opens.
No one was in either building.
Police have sealed off the area at the top of the chairlift, treating it as a crime scene.
They are appealing to the public to report anything they saw or heard on or around the mountain on Friday night.
The damage so far is estimated at well over $2 million.
Police will be probing the scene for the rest of this weekend, by Monday they will know fore sure if it is arson.
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