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Everything was orange, Sam Durbin says. The flames were “up to the pylons”.
Explosions like bombs rang out. Ash fell like snow on houses.
Durbin and his family were ripped from sleep at about 3.30am Wednesday as a truck went up in flames on Auckland’s nearby Southern Motorway, just north of the Papakura on-ramp.
The gas canisters onboard exploded into the bushes lining the motorway, creating a huge inferno.
The Durbins’ dog woke them and they heard “what sounded like fireworks”, Sam Durbin said.
Kelly Sinclair/Supplied
Flames were up to the power pylons as a truck exploded on the Southern Motorway.
“I looked outside and everything was orange.”
Durbin, his wife Sarah, 6-year-old son Archer and their dog all packed into their car.
“There was lots of stuff being thrown around in the air and there was ash all over our car.”
Meanwhile, nearby, Aparna Regulpati was waking up in her own home, to what sounded like a “bomb blast”.
She rushed to wake up her children.
Jason Dorday/Stuff
Sam and Sarah Durbin, along with their 6-year-old son Archer, were woken by the family dog and evacuated in the early hours of the morning after a truck exploded in flames on the Southern Motorway near Papakura.
“We went and waited on the street because we could feel the heat of the fire through our windows.
“We had to go straight out the door – couldn’t take anything with us.”
Ash fell on both of the family’s cars and blanketed their deck and backyard, she said.
Rosy and Clinton Addenbrooke woke to their windows shaking so badly they thought someone was trying to break in.
“I went outside and could see flames about 50m in the air burning furiously,” Clinton Addenbrooke said.
Supplied
Debris is strewn on the road after explosions wracked a blazing truck on Auckland’s Southern Motorway.
“The plume was going straight up.”
Police moved in on Karaka’s Harbourside Drive, telling families to get out as the Chemcouriers truck burned fiercely.
No-one was injured, police said, but people living nearby were told to keep their windows shut due to fumes.
It has not yet been confirmed what chemicals were on board the truck. The company has been contacted for comment.
Fire and Emergency said the truck contained class two aerosols and class three flammables.
Images of canola oil cooking spray littered across the ground have been posted to social media.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
The husk of the burnt truck can be seen on the side of the Southern Motorway.
The investigation into the fire and the contents of the canisters was still ongoing, a spokesperson said.
Harbourside Drive residents piled into cars and ended up at the local 24/7 McDonald’s, waiting for the all-clear to return home.
The manager said about 40 evacuees had sought shelter in the store in the early hours of the morning.
“We’re open 24 hours, so they were able to just come in here,” she said.
Chris Murdoch was one of the residents taking shelter in the McDonald’s.
Vanessa Morton/Supplied
Vanessa Morton heard the explosions from her home in Takanini. “It sounded like a damn war zone,” she said.
He described hearing a “massive” explosion that shook him awake.
“It was pretty intense. You can feel the heat,” he said.
The explosions were so fierce Vanessa Morton heard them from her home in Takanini, about 12km away.
“It was loud. We could see the brightness in the sky from the flames,” she said.
“It sounded like a damn war zone. I’m glad the driver of the truck is safe.”
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
There are long traffic jams on Auckland’s Southern Motorway and the burnt-out shell of a truck can be seen after an inferno on Wednesday morning.
In Opaheke, Stacey Madden “honestly thought there was army gunfire going on”.
She could see the flames from her window, she said.
“There was smoke everywhere. Huge plumes of smoke.”
The fire was extinguished overnight, with eight crews remaining on scene as the dawn broke.
Frustrated residents reported their commutes ballooned to more than 2½ hours, with the motorway closed throughout the morning peak.
Police were “strongly advising” people to avoid travel.
The motorway finally reopened just before 10am – about seven hours after the ordeal began.
But that was too late for Durbin. He was heading home with his tired family on Wednesday morning and planning to work from home because “the traffic is so bad”.
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