Fourteen fire trucks were battling a ‘multiple house’ blaze in Māngere Bridge on Thursday morning.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said at 2.58am they received “multiple calls” to Coronation Rd of “multiple houses well involved in fire”.
A firefighter on the scene who spoke to TVNZ said that five structures were destroyed following the outbreak of the fire in an old building. They said there is a potential asbestos hazard due to the age of the buildings.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said a third alarm had been raised and everyone was accounted for.
Evacuees have been relocated to Siasi Tokaikolo ‘ia Kalaisi – ‘Api ko Nasaleti, a nearby Samoan church.
”It has certainly de-escalated, there are about four to five fire trucks still in attendance. As the sun comes up, the firefighters can see what they’re working with,” the spokesperson said.
A fire service ladder was blasting water from the air still extinguishing the fire which burned out the back of the Samoan church , near a daycare centre.
Frank Koloi, a spokesperson for the church, said his phone blew up with text messages in the middle of the night.
“I was devastated… members of the church were coming and dropping off food… Families are just thankful and blessed that everyone was alright,” Koloi said.
The houses that were caught in the blaze were part of the church.
Four families have been affected, Koloi said and they would all be staying in the church until other homes could be found.
Reverend Savaiinaea said he was also woken in the middle of the night.
“I heard the knock on the glass pane of the window of my room, ‘Get out. There’s fire.’ I just got up, woke my daughter… police told us to move down here [to the church building],” he said.
When Savaiinaea left his house, he saw “very dark smoke” rising from buildings. He ran to safety in his flip flops: “I gave them to another woman because she didn’t have some.”
There are enough rooms in the church to house people other accommodation is found, he said.
Savaiinaea’s home, which is on the church complex, was not affected by the flames.
Crews from Māngere, Onehunga, Mount Roskill, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu, Remuera, Balmoral, Ellerslie, Avondale, Auckland City, Otara, Takapuna, Glen Eden and Saint Heliers were all in attendance.
Police assisted Fire and Emergency New Zealand with traffic management and evacuations at the scene after just 3am.
“Police staff set up a cordon around the affected area and evacuated residents of nearby addresses on Mountain Rd and Koru St as a precaution,” a police spokesperson said.
Fire investigators are at the scene.
The Māngere Bridge fire comes after another large blaze at the Pinehill Transfer Station in Auckland’s North Shore around 8.30pm on Wednesday.
The fire required a level three alarm and thirteen crews from Albany, Takapuna, East Coast Bays, Auckland City, West Harbour, Birkenhead, Avondale, Otahuhu and Papatoetoe were sent to the scene.