Four make lucky escape from tunnel fire

Four railway workers were "very lucky" to escape without injury after their truck caught fire inside a tunnel near Wellington this afternoon.

The maintenance workers called emergency services after the truck burst into flames inside the tunnel above Ngauranga Gorge around 2.45pm.

The four workers managed to get out to safety without being injured, Fire Service central communications centre shift manager Mike Wanoa said.

The fire was extinguished "reasonably quickly", Mr Wanoa said, but generated a lot of smoke and gas which could not disperse easily, as it was trapped inside the tunnel.

"The problem was the danger of smoke and gas in a tunnel, so we had to exit and wait until that had dissipated," he said.

"Crews have now re-entered to dampen down the scene."

TranzMetro and WorkSafe New Zealand were on site, he said.

Firefighters would work with both agencies to remove the truck from the tunnel, and would check all the equipment to make sure it was safe before removal.

The four maintenance workers were "very lucky", Mr Wanoa said.

The fire has stopped trains using the Kapiti line.