Robyn Edie/Stuff
Fire crews remained at a Lake St storage facility in Invercargill after it caught alight on Thursday.
Firefighters are still working at an Invercargill container yard which caught fire on Thursday and saw smoke billowing into the sky, roads and rail lines closed and staff and animals evacuated from a council facility.
On Friday, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) shift manager Alex Norris said firefighters had been at Freight Haulage on Lake St overnight and two fire crews and the command unit were still there, more than 14 hours after the initial call.
Firefighters were seen spraying water into tonnes of palm kernel located at the back part of the severely damaged storage building at 9.30am.
“I think it’s just a matter of working to fully extinguish and work through the fire,” Norris said.
Fenz was first called to the blaze, in the palm kernel storage sheds, around 4:30pm Thursday.
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STUFF
The fire at a Lake St, Invercargill storage facility was still burning on Thursday night.
At its peak 40 firefighters and nine fire trucks were actively fighting the fire.
Large plumes of smoke could be seen billowing over the area and train lines and State Highway 1 were closed. As of 6:40am Friday, both the rail lines and highway are now open.
On Thursday, Anthony Jones, chief executive of HW Richardson Group, which owns the facility, said due to palm kernel being at the heart of the blaze there was no concern from Environment Southland that the smoke was toxic.
“Our first concern is always our staff and the communities around us, so our priority was on that and since that’s been achieved the main focus now is on containing the fire.”
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
State Highway 1 and surrounding train lines have since reopened.
While Hato Hone St John was called to the blaze, Senior Constable Colin Johansen said no-one had been hurt.
The blaze also saw the Invercargill City Council evacuate staff and animals from its nearby Animal Care Facility on Lake St.
“We have a plan in place for any animal control callouts this evening, so you can still call on our usual number,” the council said in a Facebook post on Thursday evening.
“Please keep yourself safe and stay away from the area to allow the fire service to do their job.”
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