Major fire at three-storey building in Henderson, West Auckland

Fire crews are racing to battle a fire ripping through an apartment building in Henderson, West Auckland near Stephen Ave. Photo / Alasdair Campbell

• Fire crews are battling a blaze in a three-storey apartment building in Henderson, West Auckland.
• Ten fire trucks and two ladder trucks are on site, with no reported injuries.
• Roads are blocked and police are controlling traffic as residents watch from the street.

Fire crews are racing to battle a fire ripping through an apartment building in West Auckland.

Roads are blocked off and residents have poured onto the street as emergency services respond.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson told the Herald they were called about 8.24pm to reports of a fire in Henderson near Stephen Ave.

“The brigade arrived to find a three-storey residential block of apartments with a well-involved fire on the second and third floor,” they said.

“The brigade is working to protect surrounding properties and extinguish the fire.

“There have been no reports of anyone injured, and we have 10 fire trucks and two ladder trucks in attendance.”

The blaze could be seen from a neighbouring BP station. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Michelle Luo of local restaurant Shanghai Street told the Herald there was a “very strong” fire at a three-storey building and the “whole roof [is] gone”.

She described heavy smoke and said the whole building had “disappeared”.

Emergency sirens could be heard in the background as Luo spoke.

One resident on social media said they heard “what I thought was gunfire” followed by sirens and horns, before seeing fire trucks attend the scene.

Firefighters from across Auckland are battling a blaze in a three-story housing block in Henderson this evening. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Another described seeing smoke drift across more than 600 metres to nearby Swanson Rd.

A neighbour said she had heard police and fire trucks for at least 30 minutes.

Police said they were at the scene to control traffic.

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