KEY POINTS:
Six firemen injured in a fatal coolstore blast in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon are continuing to recover in Waikato and Middlemore hospitals.
The condition of Merv Neil, 43, in South Auckland's Middlemore Hospital with severe and extensive burns was today described by a hospital spokeswoman as serious, but
stable.
Mr Neil was earlier listed as critically ill with burns to 71 per cent of his body.
In Waikato Hospital David Beanland, 36, was stable, and likely to be transferred from the intensive care unit to a ward today.
The other four, Adrian Brown, 51, Brian Halford, 37, Alvan Walker, 35, and Dennis Wells, 51, were all listed as stable.
The fire, at the Icepak Coolstores complex in suburban Tamahere, also claimed the life of veteran firefighter Derek Lovell, 48, who was resuscitated at the scene of the blast, but died in Waikato Hospital later on Saturday night.
A seventh injured firefighter, Cameron Grylls, was discharged from hospital on Sunday.
Last night, as the fire still smouldered, the Tamahere community gathered to discuss what some said was a tragedy waiting to happen.
The Waikato Times reported about 30 people attended a public meeting at the Tamahere Community Centre to ask questions and level accusations at authorities dealing with the incident.
Representatives from the Waikato District Council, Environment Waikato, Waikato District Health Board and the Fire Service attended the meeting. The newspaper said Icepak declined an invitation to attend.
The district council and Mayor Peter Harris were criticised by some residents who said the community's concerns about Icepak's expansion had been ignored.
Raewyn Koppens said she raised concerns at a council hearing on the company's planned expansion about how the site would be accessed in a fire and if there was an evacuation plan.
Mrs Koppens said a councillor replied "not an issue, next question".
Liz Witehira agreed, saying the community was "told to sit down and shut up" when it raised concerns about Icepak's expansion.
"As a community I think we have a right to know when hazards are in our community and how these can be mitigated," Mrs Witehira said.
Her husband, Peter Witehira, said considering how Icepak was allowed to expand "it was an accident waiting to happen".
Mr Harris called for calm, saying the council needed to "wait until the dust settles".
"There's nothing worse than trying to make decisions when there's emotion and feeling around the place," he said.
"We just need to take a pace back and think about life. If we start making decisions now, we'll get it wrong."
Today firefighters were continuing to dampen down hotspots at the site, while plans to farewell Mr Lovell on Friday were being finalised.
Roofing iron was removed so water could be pumped into the building.
It was hoped fire investigators would be able to take a closer look at the scene this afternoon.
The team includes a senior investigator from the New South Wales Fire Brigades, Inspector Bob Alexander, who flew to New Zealand yesterday.
Mr Lovell had been due to attend an anniversary dinner with other firefighters in Auckland on Saturday night to mark his 25 years with the service.
Mr Lovell's wife Milli will be presented with her husband's 25-year gold star at his funeral on Friday.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Firefighters Union has established a trust for the firefighters killed or injured in the cool store explosion.
Donations can be made at any branch of ANZ bank.
- NZPA
