A large fire in a commercial building in the Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu has now been contained and firefighters will remain on scene for several hours to dampen hotspots.
Fire and Emergency NZ were called to the building on McGee St at around 2.30pm.
The building where the fire was first reported was “well ablaze” when crews arrived and then spread to an adjoining premises.
“The blaze reached fourth alarm level, and currently there are still 15 fire trucks plus other support vehicles on the scene,” a spokesperson said.
Incident controller James Hall said firefighters have contained the fire in the second building and were working to fully extinguish it.
He added that they were now in the clean-up phase to make sure all the material was completely out.
“We are confident that we have dealt with the blaze and we are dampening down the remaining hotspots.”
An emergency mobile alert was issued shortly before 5pm to warn people in the area to stay inside with doors and windows shut to avoid being exposed to smoke. This has since been lifted.
Motorists were directed to avoid the area and use signposted diversions so that emergency services were not delayed in reaching the site.
Train services were suspended between Ōtāhuhu and Middlemore due to the fire’s close proximity to the railway tracks.
“Commuters should check with Auckland Transport about the status of service,” the spokesperson added.
