Building fire on Ti Rakau Drive in Auckland's Burswood under control

A "massive" fire broke out in a plastics factory in East Auckland earlier this evening, closing the road and reducing traffic to a standstill at rush hour.

Emergency services rushed to blaze at the TruDesign Plastics factory on Ti Rakau Drive, Burswood, around 5pm as black smoke and flames were seen coming from the building.

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As Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) crew battled the blaze, police managed traffic around Ti Rakau Drive, which was closed for almost five hours earlier tonight.

Fenz said at 8.30pm the fire was under control. Fourteen appliances were still on scene, with crew going in to look for hotspots.

Police remained at the scene.

A worker at the Mobil fuel station opposite the fire said she noticed "black smoke" around 5pm.

Police, Fire and Emergency NZ and St John responded to the building fire in Burswood. Photo / Gee Lyon

A fire broke out in an east Auckland plastics factory around 5pm. Photo / Gee Lyon

"After five minutes, I saw the flames of the fire, and it was massive," the petrol station worker said.

The fire appeared to be under control now, she said.

"After five or 10 minutes the fire brigade was there and they controlled it. It was big and the flames were very high."

David Ball, who worked around 1km from the fire, said he was in traffic for 20 minutes before being turned around by police at Trugood Drive.

"You could see heaps of fire engines," he said.

Flames were seen from a building fire on Auckland's Ti Rakau Drive. Photo / Supplied

Firefighters tackle a blaze on Ti Rakau Drive, East Tamaki. Photo / Jade McNamara

Ti Rakau Drive is closed between Gossamer Drive and Trugood Drive with significant congestion in the area. Photo / David Ball

"The traffic is pretty bad," he said, describing it as "gridlocked".

Jay Jaay Marsh, who was driving past the fire around 5.15pm, described seeing dense, thick black smoke.

St John sent one rapid response unit to the fire.

Motorists were asked to avoid the area as there was significant congestion.