A Ritchies Transport employee entered the Christchurch city red zone on the 10th August 2011 to retrieve property and equipment from the Worcester St branch of the business. This followed several months of communication with the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera).
A Trip into the Red Zone of Christchurch
Pani Zaitsev, Travel Centre Manager for Ritchies Transport in Christchurch was one of a group of four employees who were granted permission to access the Company's city office. On the 10th August 2011they were escorted into the red zone which is still cordoned off to the public. Pani says they were given a safety briefing and issued with hard hats and high visibility vests. “The building is in the drop zone of the Hotel Grand Chancellor. We were told if there were any large aftershocks, we were to stay inside.”
Pani then expanded on the ride through the red zone. “There are big gaps everywhere where buildings have been demolished. All the businesses to the right of Ritchies are gone. There’s just a big empty space reaching to Manchester Street. I took tissues in case I needed to cry but I didn’t. I live in Lyttelton and am surrounded by devastation every day. You get used to it.”
Terrified staff fled the office on the 22nd February and the CBD was closed off soon after. Pani says that a few weeks after the quake, the company was asked if there was anything they needed urgently as search and rescue would be entering the building. “We asked if they would bring out the suitcases. The office checks-in passengers travelling on the Intercity buses and we had a service scheduled to leave at 2pm the day of the earthquake. Search and rescue retrieved the bags, removed any dangerous and perishable items and returned them to Ritchies a few weeks later. We then forwarded them onto the passengers.”
Entering a Red Zone Building in Christchurch
Pani describes the experience of entering the building. “We hadn’t been into the town office since the 22nd February. The back windows had blown in and everything was covered in dust. Shelves had toppled and the place was in a mess. We had Cera-appointed people with us and were given two hours to retrieve what we could.” She went on to say that they were instructed not to take any furniture and to focus on essential items such as computers, servers and personal belongings.
“People were allowed access to the buildings nearby at the same time and there were about 15 of us there in total. It was sad seeing the destruction. The Octagon Restaurant across the street is in ruins and other buildings have big cracks.”
Pani and her team recovered the bulk of the records and equipment from the building and it is now piled up in their suburban office. She says it will take time to sort it out but they have managed this far without it. “The company has retained all its staff and the town office is operating from a container on Bealey Avenue with a portaloo and no running water. It’s not ideal but that’s how life is in Christchurch at the moment. We will get through this.”
Debbie Roome - Debbie Roome is an award-winning freelance writer, journalist and novelist with over 25 years experience.
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