A toxic smoke warning remains in place for residents in South Auckland after scrap cars caught fire in Favona this morning.
At 12.04am Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) were called to James Fletcher Drive after a large pile of scrap car parts went up in flames.
On arrival, FENZ found a 49,000 cubic metre pile of scrap metal on fire.
Up to 30 trucks and support vehicles attended the incident throughout this morning.
FENZ incident controller Phil Larcombe said firefighters expect to extinguish the fire overnight.
He said people in Ōtāhuhu will be most affected, although the smoke plume is "noticeably" smaller than it was this morning.
The blaze in Favona has disrupted traffic and sparked emergency warnings. (Source: 1News)
"People should keep themselves, their whānau and pets inside and out of the smoke with doors and windows shut," he said.
"Turn off any air conditioning that draws air from outside."
It comes after FENZ district manager Brad Mosby earlier said: "The smoke plume that’s coming from the pile is significant and is causing concern out in our community."
South Auckland residents were issued an emergency alert, advising them to close doors and windows to avoid "toxic smoke".
Mosby said a shift in the wind meant smoke from the fire was moving north to include the suburbs of Greenlane, Ellerslie, Mt Wellington and Penrose.
Mosby said there wasn't chemicals burning but composites of plastics mixed with the scrap metal causing the toxicity issue.
He said the fire was "under control", but it was a long process to fully put it out.
No injuries have been reported.
'Our practice is to never speculate'
Sims Metal chief operating officer David Burrows said the fire broke out in a pile of material that was waiting to be processed.
Burrows said the company is "deeply sorry for the inconvenience that this incident has caused", however, he would not be drawn on potential causes of the fire.
"Our practice is to never speculate on the cause of a fire," he said.
"But we will conduct a review of the incident and take appropriate action to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence, including further review and assessment of inbound material to identify potentially harmful components.
"The health and welfare of our community, neighbours and employees is of paramount importance to us."
Transport delays
The scrap fire has led to significant issues with Auckland's public transport system.
For a time this morning all trains on the Auckland network were brought to a halt due to smoke affecting Auckland Transport's control centre, but began to resume later in the morning.
Auckland Transport said to expect delays and cancellations while train services return to normal.
For the latest travel advice, people are advised to check AT's journey planner tool.
And drivers are being warned to take care when travelling close to the fire.
"We recognise Favona, Māngere and Ōtāhuhu are heavy traffic areas," Larcombe said.
"If you are travelling this afternoon where there is smoke, keep your car windows up and ventilation turned off."
Anyone who's exposed to the smoke and feels unwell is urged to call Healthline on 0800 611 116, or their GP.
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