Firefighters have contained a large fire at a recycling plant near Thames which had sent black plumes of toxic smoke into the air.
Plastic material, which was earlier burning out of control, was melting and sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky throughout the afternoon.
However, earlier this evening fire crews were able to contain the blaze which first ignited around 2.30pm, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said.
No buildings were damaged or people hurt in the afternoon's massive blaze which at one point had 12 to 14 fire appliances on scene.
The FENZ spokesman said there had been concerns about finding a water source to fight the blaze throughout the night but one had been established.
Smart Environmental managing director Grahame Christian told Newstalk ZB the fire was restricted to plastics outside the building beside State Highway 26.
The plant shares the site with the Carter Holt Harvey mill in Kopu where another fire raged in April last year.
FENZ first received phone calls about the blaze at 2.30pm while a police spokesperson said they were notified by FENZ at 2.45pm.
On arrival, fire crews discovered a number of plastic bales on fire. A spokesman said the fire was about 200 metres by 100 metres in size and "well-involved".
Photo / Alan Gibson
De-Ana Wensor said the fire was massive and strong winds in the area were making it swirl into the air "like a twister".
Wensor said she saw last year's fire, which appeared to be bigger, but the size of this fire was still impressive.
Eve Gibson, near Matatoki, said the sky near the fire was filled with smoke.
"It's just masses and masses of black smoke pouring out" she said. "The smell is just unbelievable, it's so strong.
"There are heaps of cars stopping on the side of the road to look at it, because it's just huge."
Thick black smoke is billowing in to the air. Photo / Ash Wearing
Meanwhile, a woman south of the fire told the Herald there was a lot of black smoke rising into the sky from the fire.
"I thought it looked like a rain cloud at first, it's very dark out here," she said.
Mainfreight worker Ash Wearing told the Herald the fire made yesterday's blaze in Manurewa in Auckland look small by comparison.
"I drive to Whitianga and back every day and when I first got back to the yard I happened to look out and see a little bit of smoke," he said.
