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Firefighters expect it will take some time to put out a big fire in the Reclaimed Paper premises in the south Auckland suburb of Penrose.
Sixty firefighters battling the blaze have been using extension ladders to get on to the roof of the building in an effort to fight the fire from above.
The fire is believed to deep-seated inside paper bales and firefighters say the bales may have to be torn apart to extinguish the blaze.
Reports of paper bales on fire within the building's grounds were received at 11.35am.
Fifteen appliances and 10 support appliances from across the city were scrambled to the scene.
Using two extension ladders firefighters got above the fire, but disappeared in the thick white smoke which reduced visibility to zero.
Several firefighters got off the ladders and onto the roof where they ripped off roofing iron to get at the flames.
As they did thick clouds of billowing white smoke completely engulfed them.
They were all wearing breathing apparatus
Once they began pouring water on to the building the smoke receded but moments later returned as thick as ever.
The building backed onto a large complex of industrial buildings and offices, but was separated by a concrete block firewall about 10 or 12 metres high.
The adjacent complex was evacuated for safety reasons and a large crowd of onlookers watched the firefighters, often bathed in swirling white smoke.
- NZPA
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