An electrical fire in Russell caused huge plumes of smoke and cut power to dozens of businesses.
A huge electrical fire in one of Northland’s holiday hotspots caused “a black smoke bomb” and cut power to dozens of businesses during the busiest time of the year.
The fire started in a pillar box outside a kebab shop on the corner of Yorke and Cass Sts in Russell in the Bay of Islands on Tuesday, sending thick black smoke into the air and causing a power outage for 60 customers for 18 hours.
Several Fire and Emergency NZ and Top Energy crews responded to the incident at around 11.30am, with the lines company team working through the night to restore power by 5am on Wednesday morning.
Fire and Emergency NZ specialist fire investigator Gary Beer said fire crews from Russell, Kawakawa, Paihia and Rawhiti attended, and customers and staff were quickly evacuated from nearby shops and cafes.
Beer said a “power spike” in a power plinth outside Jimmy Turkish Kebab and Salad Bar was believed to have sparked the blaze.
“No buildings were damaged, but they had smoke in them, so we had to ventilate the building and evacuate people.
“It created a lot of smoke.
“It was very lucky where the plinth was, next to a solid wall, otherwise the fire could have entered the building.”
A Top Energy spokeswoman said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.
“Top Energy is confident it was not due to overloading, as the circuit was appropriately sized and protected by correctly rated fuses,” she said.
“The fire was in a low-voltage street cabinet, often called a pillar, that sits between the local distribution network and individual properties.”
Duke of Marlborough co-owner Riki Kinnaird said the fire was “huge”.
“There was really thick, choking smoke from that corner all the way to the wharf.
“It was really dark and black.
“The fire brigade would put it out and it would reignite again ... they were struggling with it for a while but controlled it really well.”
Kinnaird said the Duke had a generator that kicked in and “we were scrambling but fine”.
Other businesses weren’t so lucky.
The whole block of businesses to the wharf, including many cafes and restaurants, was without power for up to 18 hours.
They included Russell Fish Co, Tuk Tuk Bangkok Thai Restaurant and Nauti Penguin pub.
Nauti Penguin general manager Victoria Alexander, who lives across from the fire, said the blaze was “a big black smoke bomb”.
“We had to shut at 3.45pm for the evening and lost a full dinner service,” Alexander said.
“It was quite frustrating, especially at this time of year, but what can you do?
“Unfortunately for Russell, being a destinational town, it has hurt quite a few businesses.”
Delish Finest Coffee and Icecream owner Dan [who didn’t want his surname published] said his three staff and a dozen customers had to evacuate when they smelled “burning plastic”.
“I said to the customers somethings wrong, let’s get out of here,” he said.
“We grabbed a few valuables and took our one and only fire extinguisher to the team working on it, and locked up and left.”
Dan said he managed to put the icecream into a chest freezer, which he put into a caravan with a generator and reopened for business on the wharf.
“Everyone was super happy.”
It’s the latest power outage to plague the Far North of late.
On Monday, a tree caused a power outage for more than 800 households in Kerikeri, and a vehicle crash caused another one on the same day in Mangonui.
There were also several huge power outages between October 31 and November 8 across the entire southern part of the district, twice cutting power to 23,000 customers and sparking a Commerce Commission investigation.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading and social issues.