Firefighters battle scrap metal blaze in South Auckland

A massive fire at a scrap metal yard in the Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu could burn all day, despite the efforts of more than 80 firefighters at the scene.

Fire crews were called to the blaze at Sims Pacific Metals shortly before 2o'clock this morning.

More than 80 firefighters and 20 fire trucks are at the site.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand area commander Geoff Purcell says the fire is in a 1600-tonne pile of scrap metal, which includes old cars parts, roofing and tyres.

"It's a huge fire and there's a lot of really thick, black smoke coming from it," he says.

"We are doing everything we can to get this fire under control, and our crews are working extremely hard.

But because of the sheer size of the fire and the fact it's very deep-seated, we expect it to burn for most of the day."

Geoff Purcell says he expects it to cause significant disruption to traffic and people should avoid the area if they can and close their windows from the smoke.

There are road closures in place on James Fletcher Drive, between Savill Drive and Kaka Street.

Some businesses may also be affected by the cordon.

"We understand that this will cause disruption in South Auckland, and we want to assure people that our firefighters are giving 100 percent to getting it under control."

ENDS

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