Update: The Waihī Family Dental Centre confirmed on June 9 that it will be relocating to the health centre at 2 School Lane.
The owner of a Waihī dental clinic destroyed by fire says he’s very motivated to get the practice up and running again as soon as possible.
A man has been charged with arson after the Waihī Family Dental Centre was destroyed by fire in the early hours of May 28.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson said the service was alerted to the fire at 3.48am.
Three fire trucks from Waihī and one from Paeroa attended the blaze at the single-storey address on School Lane, which was well underway when they arrived.
Practice owner Darryl Violich told The Profile he and his staff were remaining positive in the aftermath of the fire.
“Our mission is to look after [our] patients and their every need, and we’re doing our very best to do that,” he said.
“We’re quite resourceful… It might not be in that building for a year, but you can still get a dental service until we rebuild.”
Darryl said the practice thankfully did not lose any patient records, and he and his staff were remaining in touch with patients directly.
Police confirmed a 35-year-old man was charged in relation to the fire, and is due to appear in the Hamilton District Court on June 28 charged with arson.
“There’s a big problem with mental health in New Zealand,” Darryl said.
“And I believe the person responsible for the damage was suffering at the time, badly.
“It’s a shame that someone couldn’t have just had a little bit of a talk to him, and said, that’s not a good thing to do… I think it’s very sad that we’ve got people in our community who don’t necessarily realize the gravity of their actions.”
However, Darryl said he wanted to focus on looking forward and continuing to serve the community as best he could during the uncertainties of the fire’s aftermath.
“We provide an essential service, especially for the young people,” he said.
“Dental disease impacts on young people a lot and we’re the only service providing for those young people in Waihī.
“We’re motivated to get going again… in the very short future when we’ve got collegial assistance, the patients will be cared for right away.”
