Screams as blaze guts home

Fire officers talk to eye witnesses after the blaze in Waikaukau Road. Photo / Janna Dixon

A suspected arson attack destroyed a home and damaged a business in West Auckland early yesterday.

More than 40 firefighters spent almost two hours battling the blaze at a building on a narrow alley in Glen Eden after being alerted about 1.20am.

Residents heard explosions and a screaming woman shortly after the fire started. "At first I thought it was a fight," said Peter Price, 49. "When I went outside I could see the windows. Two minutes later they weren't there.

"The heat was intense, you could really feel it. For at least five minutes I could hear explosions and glass shattering.

"Then there was this woman going 'help me, help me'. She hopped in her car and took off."

The building contained an apartment above a mechanical workshop. Neighbours said at least two adults lived in the apartment, possibly four, but no one was trapped or injured.

Resident Glen Nelson, 22, said the alley, off Waikaukau Rd, presented access problems for fire trucks. "We pushed a few cars back and made room for the fire engines. I think I saw about six trucks."

Nelson said he saw "big flames pouring out of the windows". One witness reported a smell of canola oil from the blaze, but Nelson said it was a "plasticky, rubbish-burning smell".

Senior fire safety officer Roy Warren said the apartment was fitted with smoke detectors and the fire was likely to have been started deliberately.

"We have determined that it was suspicious. It's in the hands of the police."

Warren said the flames would have been at least 10m high.

The two-bedroom unit was gutted and the workshop sustained fire and smoke damage but other buildings were spared.

He said the residents, believed to be Asian, fled when the fire broke out and had not returned.

"Sometimes, after a fire, people just want to go to their relatives and hunker down."

The building's owners were too distraught to talk yesterday.

BLAZE AT FIRE SAFETY FACTORY

A fire prevention business needed help when a blaze broke out at its Penrose premises yesterday.

The fire service were called to Firepel Kidd in Olive Rd about 12.30pm after a worker discovered smoke billowing through the warehouse.

Firepel Kidd makes insulation, sealants and door seals to stop fires.

The fire started in a room containing an oven that heats fire-retardant material.

The damage was confined to the room where the fire started.