Firemen battle blaze at plant

Auckland fire crews at Kumeu today. Picture / Greg Bowker

Firefighters were this afternoon battling a major blaze at The Laminex Group plant at Kumeu in West Auckland.

The fire was believed to be in the board mill at the plant and the alarm was raised shortly before 11am.

The first firefighters to arrive saw only a small fire but were greeted with explosions and a second alarm was transmitted.

That turned into a third alarm and at the height of the fire 19 appliances, including command vehicles and specialist units were there.

A fire service spokesman said water relays and decontamination units were established as more appliances arrived. Private water tankers were also used to supply water.

The fire was in drier ducting in the 80 metre by 40 metre building and firefighters used aerial appliances to pump water onto the fire from above.

"It is definitely serious," said a Fire Service spokesman.

Within 90 minutes the fire was brought under control and some of the volunteer firefighters were released.

The Fire Service said with so many appliances and up to 80 firefighters at the fire, others were brought in from all over Auckland to cover the city in case of another emergency.

"It's a real ripple effect. Some of these guys were down for specialised training and it has all had to be canned," he said.

-NZPA