‘Huge ball of fire’: Neighbours rush to help after vehicle crashes into power transformer

Mairangi Bay resident Carmen Thorton was cooking in the home kitchen when she heard a loud bang.

She rushed out to see a vehicle had crashed into a neighbouring property and was on fire.

A black ute collided with a power transformer around 7.30pm on Saturday on East Coast Rd in Windsor Park, police said.

A police spokeswoman said a building, believed to be the power transformer, had burst into flames.

Hearing crackling sounds coming from the vehicle, Thorton and her mother, who wanted to be known only as Jackie, rushed to the scene.

Nurse Jackie and daughter Carmen Thorton jumped on the flaming ute to check if there was anyone in the vehicle. Photo / Lincoln Tan

Jackie jumped onto the ute and opened the door to check if there was anyone in it, but found no one in the vehicle.

"I'm a nurse, that just came naturally. I did what I had to do, and if there was anyone in there, of course the first thing to do was to get them out," Jackie said.

By that time, Cory Aporo, 39, who was attending a friend's 50th birthday party at a neighbouring house had also gone to the street.

Sensing that the vehicle could explode at any moment, he jumped in and helped get both Jackie and Thorton away to safety.

The power transformer was in front of this North Shore property. Photo / Lincoln Tan

Minutes later, the vehicle burst into flame and erupted into a huge ball of fire.

Others who were at the 50th birthday celebrations came out to help, many directing traffic and steering people away from the flame.

Videos filmed on cellphones by neighbouring residents showed large flames around the building and thick black smoke that could be seen from a distance.

Thorton said there was no sound of breaking, tyre screeching or anything, so she believed the driver must have driven straight into the power transformer.

"Everything was normal until the loud bang... we rushed out and saw the ute had crashed and gone right on top of the transformer," she said.

Cory Aporo (right) was among the first to help at the scene of the crash along with Jackie (right) and Carmen Thorton. Photo / Lincoln Tan

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he saw the driver and two passengers come out of the car almost immediately after the vehicle crashed.

"They must have realised the danger...because moments later there was just this huge ball of fire," he said.

They were later seen speaking to police across the street, and no one was believed to have been injured in the incident.

According to witnesses, police arrived soon after the crash but it was about ten minutes before fire appliances and an ambulance came.

Power was out overnight to many residents in numerous streets in the Mairangi Bay area, many getting their power back at only around 8.30am on Sunday.