A photo taken inside the SkyCity convention centre reveals a flooded, muddy industrial site.
Newshub has been provided an image taken in the Auckland Central building that caught fire on Tuesday. A SkyCity spokesperson verified it did appear to be within the international convention centre.
The photo shows water dripping onto the ground which is muddied and flooded. Construction machinery, orange cones, scaffolding and building material have been abandoned in the large room. Light shines in from above as material hangs from the roof.
The scene matches a description given to The AM Show by firefighter Martin Campbell.
"It is very dark in some parts of the building. Obviously, they have had to turn the power off because water and electricity don't mix," Campbell said.
"We have got parts of the burning roof are falling down inside the building onto the lower floors. That is quite a conscious hazard for our firefighters working inside.
"We have got an aerial appliance squirting large amounts of water down into the building, so we have to be aware that we have got crews inside that don't get hurt or injured by that water flow from above."
Campbell said about 200 litres of water per second were blasted onto the centre. He said thousands of litres would need to be pumped out from the basement.
The fire - which Newshub understands began when a worker left a blowtorch on while going for a smoko - burnt for nearly two days. On Thursday morning, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the fire was out, but Fire and Emergency NZ says it is just less visible.
Smoke billowing from the centre has led to evacuations in the central city while road closures have disrupted commuters.
Newshub.
