Fatal blast: Intense fire drives back rescuers

Fire safety Officers investigate the scene. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Neighbours who rushed to help a man trapped inside a garden shed after a deadly explosion were forced back by intense heat and flames.

The man - believed to be in his 70s - was inside the shed at the edge of his Red Beach property, north of urban Auckland, when the blast happened shortly before 9am yesterday.

It is understood the shed did not catch fire immediately after the explosion, although smoke was billowing from it.

But soon after, a blaze broke out with a series of smaller explosions. Flames leapt 7m into the air.

Kelly Tarawa, 44, was in her unit next door when she heard the blast.

"It was big enough to shake the unit a bit. I thought, 'Bloody hell'."

Ms Tarawa rushed outside and saw smoke and flames coming from the shed. She could hear the man inside.

"He wasn't saying anything. He was groaning. You could tell he was in pain, was hurting."

She called to a neighbour to ring the emergency services, jumped over the fence dividing their properties and turned a hose on to the shed.

Ms Tarawa told the Herald she pointed another hose at the house because she was scared the flames would spread. "We had to get him out ..."

A man who was dropping his child off at a nearby kindergarten was covered with wet towels and tried to get into the shed but the fire was too intense.

One woman said the would-be rescuer received minor burns to his knees.

Fire safety officer Ray Coleman said the blaze appeared to be a tragic accident.

An initial explosion was followed by a series of smaller ones.

There were fuels in the shed, but Mr Coleman said it had yet to be determined what role they played in the explosions and fire.

"It appears at this stage to be an accident but what that accident was, we are trying to put together."

Fire safety officers were at the property yesterday afternoon examining the charred remains of the shed.

Despite not knowing the cause of the blast, Mr Coleman said he could rule out a P-lab explosion.

Detective Kevin Burke said a post-mortem examination would be completed thismorning.

A formal identification of the victim had yet to be made.