Building fire on Ti Rakau Drive in Aucklands Burswood under control

A “massive” fire broke out in a plastic factory in East Auckland earlier this evening, closing the road and reducing traffic to a standstill at rush hour.

Emergency services rushed to blaze at the TruDesign Plastics factory on Ti Rakau Drive, Burswood, around 5pm as black smoke and flames were seen coming from the building.

As Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) crew battled the blaze, police managed traffic around Ti Rakau Drive, which was closed earlier in the evening.

Fenz said in an update at 8.30pm the fire was under control. Fourteen appliances were still on scene, with crew going in to look for hotspots

A worker at the Mobil fuel station opposite the fire said she noticed “black smoke” around 5pm.

“After five minutes, I saw the flames of the fire, and it was massive,” the petrol station worker said.

The fire appeared to be under control now, she said.

“After 5 or 10 minutes the fire brigade was there and they controlled it. It was big and the flames were very high.”

David Ball, who worked around 1km from the fire, said he was in traffic for 20 minutes before being turned around by police at Trugood Drive.

“You could see heaps of fire engines,” he said.

“The traffic is pretty bad,” he said, describing it as “gridlocked”.

Jay Jaay Marsh, who was driving past the fire around 5.15pm, described seeing dense, thick black smoke.

St John sent one rapid response unit to the fire.

Motorists were asked to avoid the area as there was significant congestion.

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