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KEY POINTS:
Firefighters are dampening down the fire at a Hamilton dairy coolstore which continues to smoulder, as the names of all firemen injured in the blaze were released.
One firefighter died and six others remain in hospital, some in critical condition, after yesterday's explosion which triggered the fierce blaze.
Senior Station Officer Derek Lovell, who had at least 25 years service, died from his injuries at Waikato Hospital overnight.
The cause of the blaze is not yet known and fire safety officers cannot investigate until the fire burns itself out.
The explosion and fire caught Mr Lovell and seven others from his Hamilton-based crew at Icepak Group's coolstore in suburban Tamahere on the southeast outskirts of the city.
New Zealand Fire Service communications manager Scott Sargentina this afternoon named the seven injured and updated their conditions.
Merv Neil is in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital while Brian Halford remains in the intensive care unit at Waikato Hospital.
Dennis Wells, Adrian Brown and Alvin Walker are also at Waikato Hospital in the High Dependency Unit.
Dave Beanland is at Waikato Hospital's open ward, while Cameron Grylls was discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment.
The firefighters had gone to the coolstore at 4pm after reports of gas fumes coming from one of the buildings in the complex.
The building exploded in a sheet of flame as the officers entered, injuring them all.
Waikato Hospital this afternoon praised the response of its emergency department and criticised some media reports suggesting the hospital had struggled to cope with the injured.
Waikato Hospital group manager Hayley McConnell said the reports were wrong and had upset staff at the hospital who had coped professionally under huge pressure.
Reports the emergency department closed down for a period were also incorrect, she said.
"When we knew there were eight casualties coming in, we went into our emergency department where we had a number of patients waiting and informed them of likely delays.
"They were told if their medical problem was not urgent or could be dealt with by a local medical centre, that would be a good option to take to avoid a lengthy waiting period."
Ms McConnell said as soon as it was known casualties were coming, off-duty staff were contacted.
"A number of off-duty emergency department nurses made themselves available, our clinical unit director (emergency) stayed on past his shift; a number of other medical staff stayed on duty and we had more than 30 other staff volunteer to help.
"As in all major incidents we came together as a team.
"When people offer this level of help it is disturbing to see misleading comments suggesting our staff and hospital was unable to cope."
Minister for Internal Affairs Rick Barker today visited the site of the fire before visiting Waikato Hospital, where he paid tribute to all those involved in fighting the fire and in its aftermath.
National Party leader John Key joined in to offer condolences to Mr Lovell's family and to the injured firefighters.
Mr Key said all New Zealanders should take the opportunity to give thanks to firefighters, who regularly put themselves in danger to save lives and preserve the property of others.
Leo Koppens was 200 metres away at the time of the first explosion.
"I thought, 'shit, what the hell is that?'. It was the biggest bang I've ever heard. I felt the airwave of the explosion. I hopped in the car and when I arrived there were firemen lying everywhere.
"Firemen were getting dragged out of the building like rags. Some were conscious, some were out. It was horrific - ghastly. They had skin hanging off. They were concerned there was going to be another explosion."
Almost 400 people were evacuated as a plume of toxic smoke spread across the Waikato.
Many were attending the Pumpkin Gala at nearby Tamahere School and a wedding reception.
Doctors attending both events rushed to help firefighters.
Linda Glover, one of the parents at the school gala, described the scene as "utter chaos".
"Everyone was in a bit of shock, we just stood there. It was like a terrorist bomb, a lot of the kids were upset, they didn't know what was going on."
While their colleagues were fighting for their lives, more than 70 firefighters from as far away as Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua were struggling to contain the blaze, believed to be one of the biggest in New Zealand history.
While the cause had yet to be determined, Waikato Fire Region assistant chief fire officer Roy Breeze said crews could smell gas coming from one of the three buildings.
As soon as two crews kicked down the door, the whole building exploded.
"It was like a bomb going off, we thought a plane had crashed," said Tamahere resident Elizabeth Corboy.
"It shook the ground, you could feel a blast of air come through, everything rattled."
Her husband Paul was one of three people to pull injured firefighters out of a fire truck destroyed in the blast.
She said the former school teacher remained "cool, calm and collected" as he dragged two people out.
Another onlooker Scott Laurence helped one firefighter whose burns were so severe his emergency gear was shredded. "There was exposed skin and he was covered in burns.
"I am just hoping he's okay because I promised to give him his jacket back in a week."
The finance company manager said the scene was "pretty catastrophic". Ellen Stapleton, who lives opposite the coolstore, said she and her son initially thought the explosion was thunder.
In an internet posting, Adam Hooper said that he thought a plane had crashed.
Journalist Philippa Stevenson was riding her bike 80 metres from the explosion. "At first I thought it sounded like thunder. Then I realised it was way bigger than thunder.
"People came running from everywhere, they were pulling firemen out of the truck, one truck was completely gone. It's like those pictures you see of the nuclear bomb going off,"
Craig Bell was at home 800 metres away when the coolstore exploded.
"It was horrific. It felt like the roof was lifting off the house."
Waikato District Health Board's senior medical officer of health, Dr Felicity Dumble, said some of the foodstuffs stored in the warehouse, which included cheese, meat and butter, could be toxic once burnt and warned people to stay away.
She said more casualties could arrive at the hospital today.
Iain Slight, one of Icepak's directors, said the incident was an "absolute catastrophe".
"It's a total loss, the place has burnt down. We are in a panic situation, people have been injured."
Slight said he did not know the cause of the fire. He said there were no sprinklers in the buildings as the water would freeze due to the nature of the coolstore.
Icepak Group owner Jan Van Eden told Radio New Zealand no one was working the coolstore when the blast occurred.
Mr Breeze said about 80 to 100 firefighters and about 20 trucks were called in to fight the fire.
Reinforcements from Auckland and Tauranga arrived last night to take over from exhausted local firecrews.
