Firefighters didn't have adequate access to water to fight a blaze at an Auckland rubbish and recycling plant, says the chief executive of the business.
The major blaze at the Green Gorilla facility in Onehunga began Wednesday afternoon, forcing nearby businesses to evacuate.
Fire crews have spent the night monitoring hot spots and more trucks would be back at the scene today.
Green Gorilla chief executive Elaine Morgan told Morning Report there were enough appliances to fight the fire but "they didn't have adequate water resources to fight the fire".
"There was an issue with water on the street."
Morgan said she has raised this concern with Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) who told her it would be investigating the reasons why there wasn't sufficient water.
Westbound lanes on Neilson Street, between Alfred and Galway Street, were closed as a result.
FENZ would open the road when they could remove their hoses, Morgan said.
The road was closed because of "very bad water supply here along the street", she said.
"And so for the fire department to get enough pressure and enough water, they've had to run their lines way down to the other end of Victoria Street so those lines are coming across the road and it's important nobody drives over them."
FENZ assistant commander Mike Manning said this was something they deal with every day.
They were "well equiped to adapt to those water supply issues in the infancy of a job but we secured an adequate water supply very very quickly to enable us to go about our work".
"We've secured a large water supply from Neilson St... midway through [Wednesday] afternoon and that water supply has been quite adequate for our operations throughout [Wednesday] afternoon and the evening into [Thursday].
"What we have in these large industrial precincts is different sized water mains, so we had to bring in water off a large capacity main down in Neilson St using one of our specialist appliances called a hose layer, so we had to lay in about six to 700 metres of hose and put some intermediate pumps in to keep the continuity of supply up to the fire ground."
The larger mains were generally on arterials and major roads, which break down into smaller water mains, Manning said.
There were 35 to 40 staff on scene dealing with what is a complex and large fire, he said.
The fire was contained "however it's very very deep seated".
A review was being done on the surrounding site infrastructure every three hours, he said.
Green Gorilla is the largest processor of construction and demolition waste in the country.
"It's only wood that's burning at the moment, all our infrastructure is safe and sound," Morgan said.
She said there was no issue with hazardous waste.
"We're 99.9 percent sure it wasn't deliberately lit .. We've got some view on how it happened which we've discussed with FENZ and they're just investigating that now."
Traffic congestion
Commuters in Onehunga should expect delays this morning as smoke continues to billow from a fire at a rubbish and recycling plant.
Bus services were also affected.
An RNZ reporter at the scene said there was still a pungent smell in the air.
There was still no information on what caused the fire.
The Mainfreight warehouse neighbouring the burning waste management plant will remain closed for the day.
A worker told RNZ his coworkers had been told to work from another branch.
It was not yet clear whether other businesses will also remain closed.
Fire and Emergency advised people to avoid the area and keep windows closed.
It earlier said people should keep out of the smoke.
"If the smoke causes respiratory problems, please ring Healthline for free advice on 0800 611116 or see your doctor if you have breathing difficulties or chest pain."
RNZ
