A large fire has engulfed a commercial site housing a grocer in the east Auckland suburb of Pakuranga, as professional firefighters took industrial action on Friday.
Ahmed Reynolds‑Hatem, the son of the business owner, told 1News the shop – Pita House – was his father and uncle’s "life’s work".
Smoke billows from Pakuranga fire as firefighters strike - Watch on TVNZ+
Fire broke out at a specialty grocer in the east Auckland as professional firefighters were taking part in industrial action. (Source: 1News)
"They’re a bunch of workaholics. Seven days a week they’re in here making Mediterranean pizzas and breads – manufactured pita bread. There’s a butcher and a takeaway. We do the works," he said, adding that his father was "devastated" by the fire.
FENZ said it was alerted to the fire on Cortina Pl at 12.07pm on Friday and warned the blaze had the potential to spread to a second property.
Thick black smoke and flames could be seen billowing from the building beside the Rā Hihi Flyover.
The blaze broke out in Pakuranga shortly after midday, at a time when professional firefighters were taking part in industrial action. (Source: 1News)
St John said one person was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition.
FENZ said volunteers from Beachlands, Clevedon, Laingholm, Waitakere and senior officers were at the scene with further volunteer crews on the way.
"Due to the location, it took 30 minutes for the nearest volunteer crews to travel to the incident. The nearest career station is Mount Wellington, and they would have arrived on scene within seven minutes."
"This is exactly why we have been calling on the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union to call off these strikes while we are in the process of facilitation with the Employee Relations Authority.
"By going on strike and rejecting calls to set up a process to respond to more serious incidents the NZPFU are gambling with the public’s safety."
Professional firefighters had stopped work for an hour as part of ongoing industrial action by the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU).
"FENZ say they have contingencies. FENZ could have prevented this. They could have averted this strike at any time," the union wrote on Facebook.
Union accused of 'gambling with lives'
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden also weighed in, praising volunteer firefighters and accusing the union of "gambling with people's lives and safety".
"Enough is enough. The NZPFU needs to stop gambling with people’s lives and safety and stop these strikes."
Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown similarly thanked the volunteer firefighters and said the union was "using this incident for political gain".
"The union must stop the strikes and do their job rather than putting people’s lives and livelihoods at risk," he said in a post to Facebook.
"I am incredibly grateful for the volunteer firefighters who are stepping up while the union is playing politics."
Reynolds-Hatem was out getting supplies for the shop when he heard about the fire.
Asked about his father, he said he was devastated but he was a "strong and hard working man".
"It's going to be stressful, but he'll be OK. We'll sit in solace and eventually rebuild. That's what we always do, and carry on."
He thanked emergency services and said it was "unfortunate" there had been industrial action today.
"We're heard that the fire could have been contained within, if they came, within 10 minutes or less."
Dennis Chong, who witnessed the blaze and was evacuated with his colleagues from a nearby building, told 1News he saw lots of smoke and fire coming from the roof of the building just after 12pm.
"I was close to it and the heat hit my face," he said.
Auckland Transport said two bus routes would detour due to the fire.
The 70 bus would detour through Gossamer Dr and Pakuranga Rd, while the 711 bus would detour through Lewis Rd and Reeves Rd.
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