The main pack-house, curing canopy, forecourt and rear coolstores that had recently been upgraded were left undamaged, he said.
Rangiuru Rd resident Greer Herbert thought her own house was on fire when she returned home about midnight on Wednesday with partner Zac Green.
"I saw a massive black cloud and an orange glow."
The 19-year-old, who lives a few hundred metres from Oakside, said she watched the shed roof crumble and the sides cave in.
"It was scary. You could hear big explosions and forklifts caught on fire.
"I could feel the heat from were I was standing. It was a massive, crazy fire."
Te Puke chief fire officer Glenn Williams said the call-out came at at 11.50pm and was first on the scene.
The shed was totally engulfed in flames so efforts were concentrated on preventing the fire from spreading, he said.
About 12 appliances from around the region, including the rural fire service, attended with five water tankers including those bought in from Edgecumbe and Katikati. Up to 50 firefighters fought the blaze.
"It was several hours because of the lack of water for firefighting so we had to rely entirely on tankers to ferry water in to try and put the fire out," Mr Williams said.
They also faced a line of battery-powered forklifts that were all plugged in for charging under a canopy, he said.
"I think some of those batteries exploded during the cause of our firefighting operations."
It was the biggest fire the Te Puke brigade had responded to since the Te Puke High School about six years ago.
The Seeka incident was under investigation by the fire risk management officer and not being treated as suspicious.
No one was on site at the time of the fire.
Oakside Rangiuru Road
*Expected to process more than 9 million class 1 kiwifruit in 2015
*Employs 600 people during kiwifruit harvest
*Had been processing kiwiberry but no fruit was affected by fire
*Processing operation and equipment is being reviewed to assess if it will be moved or stay on site
