Photos of the huge blaze
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The blast that killed firefighter Derek Lovell and injured several others was similar to an explosion in a war zone, a Waikato surgeon says.
Waikato Hospital director of trauma, Grant Christey, said the five firefighters recovering in Waikato Hospital were "doing reasonably well" but all were exhibiting blast
injury syndromes which was "a severe set of problems".
Speaking to media at Waikato Hospital, Mr Christey said a rough calculation of the blast wave was about 2000 km/h.
"That was the blast pulse that hit these firefighters followed by a super heated gas wave that would have blown all the exposed skin and clothes off."
"Hamilton's not known for terrorist blasts, thank goodness, but this is the same syndrome or scenario you would find in Iraq or a London bombing... this is a classic high energy blast."
He said the firefighters had exhibited lung, ear and eye injuries which were consistent with blast injuries.
Mr Christey said the firefighters' protective clothing "almost certainly shielded them from massive superficial or burn injuries".
But he said many suffered burns to their exposed faces and hands and some would require skin grafts.
"Also they have fallen over because they have mostly been knocked out and suffered injuries from falling and hit by flying debris...a lot have concussion injuries which will cause deficits in their ability to concentrate."
Doctors, who gave first aid at the scene, many of them from a nearby gala function, took huge risks Mr Christey said.
"They really put themselves at risk going into that situation," he said.
"There's no guarantee having had one explosion that you are not going to get some more, so that was an incredibly brave move by all those people - not just the doctors there, but everyone who went to help, and there were plenty."
The doctors first on the scene helped ambulance officers give life support to at least one firefighter and helped assess other injured people, he said.
"They came in well packaged and in the correct order so that the emergency department could receive them, so that the process was orderly but done very quickly."
One patient had very serious facial injuries and was attended by a facial surgeon and anaesthetist all the way to hospital, he said.
Waikato Hospital group manager Hayley McConnell, praised the "outstanding bravery" of not only the Fire Service, but off-duty staff and about 40 people who helped the local community at the scene.
Despite the high number of casualties, she said Saturday was "business as usual" for the hospital which had about 500 patients at the time.
"You should be under no illusions that we were overwhelmed and were unable to cope," she said.
"My colleagues - both clinical and non-clinical - coped professionally and under huge pressures and we have dealt with larger instances than this."
Mr Christey said it was possible the five recovering firefighters in Waikato Hospital could be discharged in a week but the impact from Saturday's fire would be felt for "months and months".
He said many hospital staff knew most of the firefighters "because we wander in and out of each others lives on a fairly regular basis".
"It's going to be important people look after each other, are kind to each other, understand the types of injuries these firefighters have, and what impact it has on their families," he said.
"It will linger on long after the hype settles down...it's going to be important people look after each other."
He said a lot of the injured had concussion injuries which would make it hard for them to concentrate for long periods.
"They will get irritable, they will get tired in the afternoons and life will get hard at home."
He said they would be prone to post traumatic stress disorder as well as concussion syndrome.
"They will need support, and so will their families."
He said most of the patients should be out of hospital within a week or two, except Merv Neil who is in South Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.
Mr Neil remains in a critical condition with burns to 71 per cent of his body and could be there "for some time yet".
