Large storage facility on fire in Invercargill

A large storage facility fire in Invercargill was still burning late on Thursday night, with firefighters remaining onsite overnight to keep it contained.

Large plumes of smoke were seen billowing over Invercargill as the fire engulfed the Lake St storage facility earlier on Thursday.

At its peak, about 40 firefighters and nine fire trucks were actively fighting the fire, Fire and Emergency NZ said, though that number had reduced by late Thursday night.

The fire is largely contained to the 50m x 30m building, but is not yet extinguished, FENZ said on Thursday night.

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Fire and Emergency Incident Controller Julian Tohiariki said crews will remain on the scene throughout the night, before efforts to remove any remaining fire fuels inside the building are made on Friday morning.

“People may still see smoke coming from the area, and we want to let people in the path of the smoke plume know that it is not toxic – it is similar to the smoke from a vegetation fire,” Tohiariki said.

“However, inhaling any smoke is hazardous to your health, so we encourage anyone encountering the smoke to stay indoors with their windows and doors closed.”

The road closure on State Highway 1 would remain in place until the morning.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at Freight Haulage on Lake St by an automated system just after 4.30pm on Thursday.

Smoke could be seen billowing from nearby State Highway 1.

As crews arrived at the scene they found the storage facility “well alight”, Fire and Emergency Southern shift manager Lyn Crosson said.

More crews from surrounding areas had been called in to assist with efforts to battle the blaze, as well as a command unit from Invercargill, Crosson said.

From the scene, Senior Constable Colin Johansen said the fire was well ablaze when police arrived just after 4.30pm.

He said as far as he was aware no-one had been hurt, which was the main thing, and he believed everyone had been evacuated from the building.

Earlier, a spokesman for Hato Hone St John said ambulance staff were at the scene monitoring and assisting firefighters. There were no patients at this time, he said.

HW Richardson Group chief executive Anthony Jones said the fire started in the palm kernel storage sheds.

Jones said due to the palm kernels being at the heart of the blaze there was no concern from Environment Southland that the smoke was toxic.

“It’s palm kernel it’s not a dangerous good.

“Our first concern is always our staff and the communities around us, so our priority was on that and since that’s been achieved the main focus now is on containing the fire.”

The Group’s general manager for health and safety was on site when the blaze occurred, but as a volunteer firefighter himself, sprung into action to help fight the fire, Jones said.

“Our staff are safe, [but] we want to understand what’s led to this.

“For the communities and our staff down there, our commitment is to understand what’s occurred here.”

Jones said it was the first time the company had experienced a blaze like this at any of its locations.

Neighbours from two houses nearby said they had previously raised concerns about a smell coming from the building.

The neighbours, including Brian and Shona Hibbs, said they had complained about the smell from the building to local councils on numerous occasions during the years, and expressed concerns there could be a fire.

Shona Hibbs said the smell, which she likened to burnt soy, made her feel sick. The smell from the building was intermittent, with wind direction a factor, she said.

Jones said the smell was under investigation, but it wasn’t something he could comment on right now.

”Our main focus is making sure that we get this under control, which Fire and Emergency have done a great job with. And then working to understand what’s occurred so it doesn’t occur again.”