Grant
Administrator
ONLOOKERS were left agape as smoke filled the sky and flames claimed the roof of a Highland Park restaurant complex on Tuesday.
Photo Wayne Martin.
Photo Wayne Martin.
A blaze erupted at the rear of the Aviemore Dr building, housing four separate food outlets, shortly before 1pm.
Mandarin Palace, Ajadz Indian Cuisine, Eastern Palace and Laitse Seafood Company staff looked on as dozens of fire officers doused flames leaping from the rear roof.
At about 1.30pm a section of the roof caved in as smoke, water and ash flowed from the building.
Howick Fire Station officer Graham Grace says the blaze started in a second-storey kitchen.
“It was inattentive cooking. The chef was cooking with a big wok and had to have a toilet stop. When he came back the flames were a metre high coming out of the wok,” says Mr Grace. “They tried to put it out themselves, but weren’t very successful. They thought because their fire alarm had gone off we were automatically on our way, but their alarm isn’t connected to the Fire Service.”
The delay in calling emergency services meant the fire had time to spread into the ceiling.
“The fact that it was up in the ceiling void of the kitchen made it look spectacular. It was a reasonable size fire,” says Mr Grace. “Another problem was it was like rats deserting a sinking ship. Everyone was pouring out of the driveway as we were trying to get in. We had trucks stuck on the road and cars trying to get through. It was a bit panicked.”
Fire crews from across Auckland attended the blaze in 11 units. Two specialist aerial scopes [cherry pickers] were used to put out flames from above.
Police cordoned the road between Denny’s and Foodtown Highland Park, turning away approaching traffic.
Brandon Adams, 11, was one of the first to see the blaze from a building across the road.
“My auntie, mum and I were eating and we saw smoke coming out of the top of the restaurant,” says Brandon. “After about 10 minutes the fire started coming out and we thought the fire brigade must be on the way. We waited for a couple of minutes and it started getting bigger so my mum said I must call them.”
Brandon watched as the fire grew in intensity.
“By the time the fire brigade arrived the fire was really big. I went around and started taking pictures,” he says. “I saw a man running up and down the stairs at the back of the building. I thought he was going up to check if there was someone there. I saw this massive hole in the roof.”
Mr Grace says no one reported being injured as a result of the fire.
“There weren’t any injuries that I was aware of. The chefs seemed to be okay and they didn’t report any injuries to us and neither did any firemen,” he says. “The Fire Service was still there until 9pm. We do a standby any time there’s a fire to make sure the building is secure and to make sure the fire is completely out.”
Fortunately, ground floor takeaway shops escaped undamaged.
“The only way they were affected was the power was shut off to the building. We made sure there was no water or smoke coming in,” says Mr Grace.
Photo Wayne Martin.
Photo Wayne Martin.
A blaze erupted at the rear of the Aviemore Dr building, housing four separate food outlets, shortly before 1pm.
Mandarin Palace, Ajadz Indian Cuisine, Eastern Palace and Laitse Seafood Company staff looked on as dozens of fire officers doused flames leaping from the rear roof.
At about 1.30pm a section of the roof caved in as smoke, water and ash flowed from the building.
Howick Fire Station officer Graham Grace says the blaze started in a second-storey kitchen.
“It was inattentive cooking. The chef was cooking with a big wok and had to have a toilet stop. When he came back the flames were a metre high coming out of the wok,” says Mr Grace. “They tried to put it out themselves, but weren’t very successful. They thought because their fire alarm had gone off we were automatically on our way, but their alarm isn’t connected to the Fire Service.”
The delay in calling emergency services meant the fire had time to spread into the ceiling.
“The fact that it was up in the ceiling void of the kitchen made it look spectacular. It was a reasonable size fire,” says Mr Grace. “Another problem was it was like rats deserting a sinking ship. Everyone was pouring out of the driveway as we were trying to get in. We had trucks stuck on the road and cars trying to get through. It was a bit panicked.”
Fire crews from across Auckland attended the blaze in 11 units. Two specialist aerial scopes [cherry pickers] were used to put out flames from above.
Police cordoned the road between Denny’s and Foodtown Highland Park, turning away approaching traffic.
Brandon Adams, 11, was one of the first to see the blaze from a building across the road.
“My auntie, mum and I were eating and we saw smoke coming out of the top of the restaurant,” says Brandon. “After about 10 minutes the fire started coming out and we thought the fire brigade must be on the way. We waited for a couple of minutes and it started getting bigger so my mum said I must call them.”
Brandon watched as the fire grew in intensity.
“By the time the fire brigade arrived the fire was really big. I went around and started taking pictures,” he says. “I saw a man running up and down the stairs at the back of the building. I thought he was going up to check if there was someone there. I saw this massive hole in the roof.”
Mr Grace says no one reported being injured as a result of the fire.
“There weren’t any injuries that I was aware of. The chefs seemed to be okay and they didn’t report any injuries to us and neither did any firemen,” he says. “The Fire Service was still there until 9pm. We do a standby any time there’s a fire to make sure the building is secure and to make sure the fire is completely out.”
Fortunately, ground floor takeaway shops escaped undamaged.
“The only way they were affected was the power was shut off to the building. We made sure there was no water or smoke coming in,” says Mr Grace.