Packaging store fire in Hastings

Damage from a suspicious shed fire on the corner of Williams St and Nelson St North, Hastings. Photo Duncan Brown.

Police and fire safety officers are investigating the cause of a weekend blaze which badly damaged a Hastings warehouse and much of its stock of cardboard horticultural packaging.

Eight Fire and Emergency New Zealand appliances involving over 30 firefighters from Hastings and Napier were involved in fighting the fire in a building on the corner of Nelson and Williams Sts and adjacent to the railway line in the Mahora North industrial area.

It was reported in multiple 111 calls just before 10pm on Saturday and Hastings station Senior Fire Officer Michael Manning said about a quarter of the 50m long building was well involved in fire by the time the first crews arrived.

With the firefight limited to a ground attack with focusing on stopping the spread of the fire to a neighbouring facility, it was about an hour before the fire was under control, but heavy machinery, including a 12-excavator, were brought-in early morning to break-down and delayer the ceiling-high palletised stacks of still burning and smouldering packaging.

Foam was also used to ensure the fire was fully extinguished and it was not until about 9.30am yesterday that the last of the fire crews was able to leave the scene, almost 12 hours after the alarm was raised.

"They did an excellent job stopping the fire from spreading to a neighbouring coolstore and containing the fire within about a quarter of the building," Mr Manning said.

No one was thought to have been in the building and police said the fire is being treated as suspicious although there is nothing specific to suggest the cause of the fire was arson.

The cause was late yesterday still unknown and investigations continue, with police interested in any information about movements of people, vehicles or anything else suspicious in the area, especially up to when the fire was first reported at 9.56pm.

A resident said people would have been settling down in front of TV to watch the rugby match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies.

"We had our curtains shut and I could hear this banging," she said, initially dismissing the noises.

But it was soon afterwards she wondered if it was a fire, opened the door and noticed the glow in doorway from the fire about 200m away.

A neighbour had already raised the alarm for what was the latest of several significant fires in the area over the years, including the major Hawk Packaging blaze in January 2012.

Emergency services were also called to a house fire on Diaz Dr, Flaxmere, at 2.52pm yesterday.

Hastings Volunteer Fire Brigade senior station officer Mike Manning said the hallway and bedrooms in the unoccupied dwelling were badly damaged from the blaze which was thought to be suspicious.

A police spokesperson said three people were in custody in relation to the incident and the investigation was ongoing.