Fire crews have extinguished a large blaze at Onehunga in Auckland tonight which badly damaged a hair and beauty clinic.
Photos from the scene near Onehunga Mall show a red glow from the blaze and billowing smoke.
The affected business was hair and beauty clinic The Chocolate Af’hair at the Onehunga Mall.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) said 12 fire appliances and multiple support vehicles were battling the third alarm level fire at a single-storey building.
”We received multiple calls to a building on fire shortly after 5.30pm,” a spokesman said.
Upon arrival, crews located the blaze at the rear of a shop. The building is 15m by 15m in size.
”Multiple crews went inside the building to carry out a fire attack, before requesting further support.”
Seven fire engines, three ladder trucks and two specialist vehicles worked to extinguish the blaze alongside numerous support vehicles and a fire investigator.
Fenz said everyone was accounted for and no other buildings were in danger.
The fire was extinguished at 6.30pm. Crews would remain in attendance while clearing hotspots.
Fenz confirmed the business was a hair salon next to a two-storey building. The building next door had suffered smoke damage but there were no signs it was involved in the fire.
Nearby resident Gina Lio told the Herald she was watching television at her home on Colonel Nixon St when she smelt smoke in her living room.
”When I came outside, I saw black smoke and it smelt like burning chemicals.”
Lio said she walked over to the fire to take photos but had to leave shortly afterward because it was “too hard to breathe”.
She said the fire was at The Chocolate Af’hair.
”I can still smell it in my house, and I’m getting a bit of a headache from it.”
Another witness said she could see multiple emergency services vehicles and a helicopter was circling overhead.
Police have closed off a portion of Trafalgar St.
Police said the incident was a building fire, and directed media queries to Fenz.
“We’re supporting with road closures in the immediate area.”
A selection of cartoons from Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson over the past year