KEY POINTS:
Firefighters expect to remain at the scene of Auckland's largest blaze in decades for up to 48 hours as hot spots continue to flare up.
Fire investigators today hope to hunt through the wreckage to find the cause of the fire, which gutted a Penrose coolstore on Saturday night.
The Fire Service estimated the blaze reached temperatures of over 1000C, destroying the old Southdown Freezing Works building with over 100 firefighters working in shifts overnight to contain the flames.
About 30 remained at the scene today.
Today, Auckland senior station officer Richard Toomey said the building, which was four storeys in places, had collapsed on top of the fire.
That made it too dangerous to send firefighters in on the ground, and instead ladder trucks were being used.
"The seat of the fire is right in the middle of the complex," he said.
"We're going to be here for a while. It's hard to put a gauge on that, but realistically we could be here for another 24 to 48 hours."
Mr Toomey said hot spots would flare up, generating plenty of smoke, and then all of sudden would die down again.
"We look as if we've got the whole thing under control and it sort of gets going again," he said.
"We just can't get the water in where we want it."
Mr Toomey said there were initial concerns about asbestos at the site, but there had been no confirmation of that so far.
He said it was too early to say what might have caused the fire and any suggestions at the moment were just guess work.
Because the building has collapsed, firefighters would have to put the fire out and make the site safe before investigators could go in.
Yesterday, a demolition crane was used to help open up buildings, many of which were smoking as small fires burned during yesterday morning. It was still too dangerous for anyone to enter the buildings.
It is the second massive fire in the area this month after the Onehunga Mitre 10 burned to the ground.
Fire Service spokesman Scott Osmond yesterday said there was "no suggestion" there was an arsonist in the area.
General manager of the building Danny Gelb said it was a real tragedy for a number of people who have lost their businesses just days before Christmas.
Radio New Zealand reported that up to 100 people may have lost jobs as a result of the fire.
As the building smouldered yesterday, Bill Puru stood with Graeme Torckler behind safety barriers in Penrose waiting for updates from firefighters who overnight battled yellow and green toxic smoke which could be seen as far away as Waiheke Island.
Their businesses - Mr Puru owns a surplus trading company while Mr Torckler owns a computer recycling operation - will now have to find new premises. The Southdown complex is also home to builders, landscapers and a fencing yard.
Mr Puru was at work when the fire started. His buildings, which are not connected to the main facilities, remained untouched.
"It's devastating for a lot of people here," he said.
"They'll be worried about their jobs, what's going to happen. It's quite a good whanau here, we try and work with each other. I've got to relocate. They're going to condemn the whole place."
Mr Puru said the site had electrical problems.
"The power here is a bit dodgy."
But businesses would be hard pressed the find better premises - the site was cheap, had plenty of space and good landlords, Mr Puru said.
Mr Torckler said owners were worried about stock losses - he had heard one business had lost goods valued at $500,000.
Meanwhile, the Auckland Medical Officer of Health said the fire might worsen asthma and cause people in the area to cough or get sore throats. Denise Barnfather said the risk to public health was "very low" but smoke and dust might cause problems for some people. Air tests showed the asbestos level was low.
Commuter trains are running to timetable this morning.
Veolia spokeswoman Silva Bassett said debris from the fire was cleared from the track by 10.00 last night.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Isaac Davison, NZPA
