Eleven fire crews on Thursday morning battled a massive fire near Auckland Airport.
Emergency services were alerted to the blaze at a campervan business on Richard Pearse Dr in Manger about 5am and it quickly escalated into a fifth-alarm fire.
"The building had a large fire in the rear which has quickly spread through the building. It is a large building. Nearly 80 metres by 100 metres. There is campervans and various workshops and things inside the building," said Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) Auckland area commander Richard Twomey.
"Initially we did commit crews to fighting the fire internally."
But that was called off due to the blaze quickly escalating.
Nineteen fire crews battled the blaze earlier in the morning and speaking to media about 7am, Twomey said it was contained. Fourteen appliances - including three aerial appliances - and 70 staff were at the site at the time.
People continue to be asked to stay away from the area to allow emergency workers to work safely.
FENZ said there had been a "light haze of smoke" in the area.
Thick smoke from the fire earlier drifted across to cover parts of the motorway. Richard Pearse Rd had been closed between Ascot Rd and Amelia Earhart Ave, while Montgomery Rd between Richard Pearse and Rennie Drs had also been closed.
"It's creating a bit of havoc for people trying to get to the airport, but that's being managed by police," Twomey said.
There were no reports of injuries and no other buildings were threatened.
Several campervans close to the building were able to be saved by firefighters.
