A number of firefighters have contained a “deep-seated” fire in an industrial building in central Christchurch this morning.
An earlier emergency alert for people in the Sydenham, Addington and Spreydon areas to stay inside, close their windows and doors and not to use air conditioning has now been lifted as the smoke drift has “sufficiently dissipated”.
“We continue to ask that people affected by the smoke drift to keep their windows and doors shut,” FENZ said in a post to social media.
In an update just after 4pm, FENZ said operations have “downscaled”, with some crews released and only one pump in attendance.
“The remaining crew will be working through the building and rubbish pile to ensure it is fully extinguished before handing the site back to the building owners later on tonight.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire is expected to start tomorrow.
“It has been unsafe for our investigators to commence their investigation while we have been working.
“We would like to thank the public for their patience, including nearby businesses.”
The fire was at a “multi-occupancy” building on Colombo St, just south of Christchurch’s CBD, which houses Enviro NZ and Auto Inspection Services.
Speaking to media from outside the building, FENZ Canterbury incident controller Dave Key earlier said crews had contained the “deep-seated” fire, but it was still actively burning.
“We’ve contained it back to where we believe it started, which is in a pile of waste and general rubbish.”
He said there were 10 trucks and 50 firefighters at the scene.
“From here, because it’s quite a deep-seated fire in a large pile of rubbish, for the rest of the day we’ll be using heavy machinery and just dampening down the fire so people can expect to see the smoke dissipate at times and then come back as we get further into the fire.”
Key said the investigation had begun, but said it was “way too early” to determine the cause of the fire.
“It’s mainly just damage to the building itself, mainly structural as opposed to what’s inside it.”
“We’ve been working with the building occupants, to take them as close as is safe,” Key said.
In an update shortly before 11am, FENZ said all of Cass St and the pedestrian walkway on the left side of Colombo St remained closed.
“Smoke is still continuing to drift across Colombo St, so please take care as you drive and always keep your eyes on the road,” it said on social media.
There were no reported injuries.
