Fire and Emergency Waitemetā assistant commander Garry Lane told the Herald crews made entry but decided it was too dangerous to fight the fire from the inside.
“As a result, they withdrew and commenced operations from outside the building,” he said.
Embers flew into the sky, and the fire glowed bright white and orange. The inferno lit up the clouds of smoke against the dark evening sky. Photo / Hayden Woodward
At the height of the fire, thick plumes of smoke rose from a warehouse surrounded by paddocks. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Firefighters are monitoring and dampening hotspots at a plant nursery after struggling against a raging blaze in West Auckland in the night. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Two ladder trucks battled the blaze and firefighters used multiple hoses to douse the flames.
The fire was burning an area of about 1250sq m, the Fire and Emergency spokeswoman said.
Firefighters contained the inferno at 11.53pm and the incident was scaled down at 1am, the Fire and Emergency spokeswoman said.
Two fire engines were still on the scene at 7.30am while crews monitored and dampened hotspots.
A fire investigator would be on the scene today, she said, and it was too early to determine the cause of the blaze.
Fire and Emergency shift manager Paul Radden told RNZ neither of the heavy arterial trucks from Auckland stations was working. Wellington lent one to the city’s firefighters this week, but it broke down and another was called in from Hamilton.
Lane told the Herald they had called for Hamilton’s truck, but it was then turned back.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
