Razed Hastings warehouse was correctly zoned, says mayor

Residents of homes neighbouring an industrial warehouse in Hastings destroyed by fire at the weekend have expressed concerns about industrial sites amid residential homes, but the mayor says the area is correctly zoned.

Environmental officers have been working against the clock to contain the impact of a fire at the former site of an oil and cleaning supplies warehouse in the suburb of Frimley.

Fire service resources were stretched when the blaze at VJ Distributors Ltd on Saturday caused the evacuation of about 70 homes because of toxic smoke.

Three other houses and a garage caught fire across the road.

The warehouse, roughly 20m by 60m, contained oil and cleaning products, which were mostly sold in bulk containers.

Hastings fire service senior station officer Kerry Harford told NZPA the building had been completely destroyed, five houses were damaged and a "fair amount of oil smoke had covered houses down wind".

Some residents have expressed concerns, but Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said the area was correctly zoned.

"It's a commercial industrial zone," Mr Yule told National Radio today.

"It is in the correct zone and I understand it was compliant with all the regulations, but obviously that'll be something that's fully investigated."

The fire service was alerted to the fire about 11.30am Saturday and by the time it was under control at 5pm, about 80 personnel, 15 appliances, an aerial unit and command unit were involved.

The fire was so hot, fuelled by the oil, that it was melting concrete, Mr Harford said.

The focus now was minimising the environmental damage.

Hawke's Bay regional council Bryce Lawrence told NZPA the property contained about 200,000 litres of oil.

A nearby stream had been contaminated and there was a lot of oil in the drains, he said.

A dam had been set up in the stormwater system and effluent trucks were being used to recover the oil.

Mr Lawrence told National Radio it was crucial the clean-up was done in a way to minimise any further environmental damage, such as washing cars over grass to prevent the run-off entering the stormwater system.

Evacuated residents had been allowed to return to their homes about 5pm Saturday.

There were no reports of injuries.

It was not yet known what caused the fire, and fire safety officers, police and insurance representatives were investigating.

- NZPA