Warehouse goes up in flames

Firefighters fought to douse a fire in a warehouse on Mirrielees Rd before it could spread. Photo/George Novak

A Tauranga boat painter raced to get boats out of his workshop as the warehouse next door went up in flames.

BOP Marine Painting owner Allen Hartridge called the fire brigade when he smelt burning and noticed smoke inside the warehouse attached to his workshop on Mirrielees Rd about 11.30am yesterday.

"There was just smoke behind the windows. The windows blew out a few minutes after that," Mr Hartridge said.

He and his staff raced to move the boats they were working on to safety as they waited for firefighters to arrive.

Firefighters quickly set up a hose in Mr Hartridge's workshop in case the fire spread.

Plumes of smoke could be seen from the Tauranga expressway as firefighters battled to douse the blaze.

Jason Howell, who was working nearby, said the smoke drifting out from the building was so thick he could not see more than 100 metres down the road.

"It was engulfed in smoke," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. It was pretty bad."

Cold Storage Nelson staff member Gordon Madden saw small flames as he drove past to get lunch and returned to find he could not get back to work as the fire service had cordoned off the street from Cross Rd.

Fire service Bay of Plenty coast area manager Murray Binning said the part of the building that was damaged was a storage facility.

Mr Binning said the front of the single storey building and the mezzanine floor were extensively damaged.

An ambulance was called to treat a volunteer firefighter at the scene but he was not taken to hospital.

It had appeared he was suffering from heat exhaustion but it turned out he had been unwell before he arrived, Mr Binning said.

Fire safety officer Bill Rackham began his investigation into the cause of the fire yesterday but said it was too soon to say what had caused the blaze.