Port Stephens small business owners Craig and Joyce Sweeney have been left devastated after fires ripped through their Salt Ash laser tag site and left a storage container housing up to $20,000 worth of equipment gutted.
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The Sweeneys, who operate Battlezone Playlive at Salt Ash Weapons Range, say they have to put the business on hold while they assess the extent of the damage in the aftermath of last week’s horrific bushfires.
Mr Sweeney said initially there had been some suspicion that the shipping container used to store laser equipment and clothing had suffered the same fate as the nearby pony clubhouse, which was broken into by callous thieves.
“It was rather odd to see one side of the shipping container had been cut open, but we received confirmation from the Rural Fire Service on Tuesday that it was of the firies doing,” he said.
“We have had no further communication at this stage but we can only assume that it was done in an effort to save the burning equipment inside.
“On closer inspection of the container it was not difficult to understand how the total destruction of the contents was caused by the intensity of the flames and the container’s timber flooring.”
Mr Sweeney said he was still in shock after seeing the impact of the high wind fanned fires that roared through the Richardson Road site, leaving the property and its contents looking “like an apocalyptic scene out of a scientific movie”.
“The container has pretty much been gutted by the fierce flames … we’ve lost inflatable boulders, costumes including hundreds of overalls and tops, refreshments [food and drink] and some personal items including household furniture.”
Mr Sweeney said that the loss of potential earnings over the upcoming Christmas holiday period would make it difficult for the business to recover.
“We have already had to cancel a number of bookings and now we’ll be forced to turn away the hundreds of school kids and Christmas parties we usually get at this time of the year. It also means we may have to shed six or seven casual staff.”
Mr Sweeney, who also operates a Battlezone out of Maitland Gaol, said he was not sure at this stage if it would be a viable proposition to rebuild at Salt Ash.
“We are hoping to transfer some of our bookings to the Maitland site,” he said.
The Sweeneys said that any future business decision would depend on talks with owners of the weapons range site, the Port Stephens Council.
As well as the Sweeneys shipping container, three sheds and a number of cars were destroyed by the bushfire.
