The fire started in Northport's woodchip facility. Photo / Alan Wood
The fire started in Northport's woodchip facility. Photo / Alan Wood
A large blaze at Northport in Marsden Point has been extinguished almost four hours after a woodchip conveyor caught fire.
Northport spokesman Peter Heath said the fire started in the woodchip conveyor intake system that feeds the Marasumi woodchip pile, around 12.45pm.
Crews from the Ruakākā Volunteer Fire Brigade rushedto the site to tackle the blaze. However, they were soon joined by firefighters from Waipū and Whangārei as the incident was upgraded to a second alarm.
An aerial appliance from Whangārei station was used to gain access to the elevated woodchip conveyor.
Heath said the fire had subsided by 1.45pm but wasn't extinguished until around 4.30pm.
The fire at Northport, Marsden Point, earlier this afternoon. Photo / Karen Kiss
Heath said Northport were "extremely grateful" to the fire crews.
"As always, their professionalism was remarkable."
The port was also thankful for the local community who rallied around as the incident unfolded.
"Our thanks go, too, to our neighbours and our local communities for their messages of support and concern about the wellbeing of all those who work at the Northport facility," Heath said.
Large plumes of smoke from the blaze were visible from more than 40km away despite the flames having subsided.
Whangārei Heads and Onerahi residents were able to spot the fire due to the vast chimney of dark smoke obvious from across the harbour.
Heath said they had been confident the woodchip pile wasn't going to catch fire as it has high moisture content and given all the recent rain.
He said they were unsure about what caused the conveyor in-take system to catch alight but investigations into the blaze would continue on Wednesday.
