A large fire that broke out at a Hamilton car mechanic on Monday morning has been contained.
Twelve fire trucks and 35 firefighters had been working to extinguish the blaze at Frankton Motor on Ellis Street since about 11:30am.
FENZ shift manager Blair Walklin said two crews were still in attendance dampening down remaining hotspots.
Photo: Supplied / Heidi Shoston
Walklin said a fire investigator was at the scene to determine the cause of the fire.
He said a gas representative from Auckland Council also visited the site to make sure it was safe for workers at nearby businesses to return.
During the blaze, the street was closed and people in neighbouring areas had been evacuated.
A commercial building is on fire in the Hamilton suburb of Frankton Photo: Supplied
A Frankton business owner said its staff were evacuated after the fire broke out.
Meanwhile, a Hamilton City Council spokesperson said the Animal Education and Control centre, nearby to the fire, has been closed for the day, but there was no threat to the building and no staff or animals were evacuated.
Jamin from iPlumber said their receptionist called FENZ about 11:30am after noticing Frankton Motor across the road on Ellis Street was on fire.
"She called the fire trucks and they took about 10 minutes to get there. We just saw the smoke and it went up pretty quick. The sign burnt out the front and flames started coming up through the roof in about five or 10 minutes and the smoke got a lot thicker.
Photo: Supplied
"Surrounding businesses came out onto the street wondering, 'What the hell is going on here?' That's not good for a Monday".
He said FENZ and police made sure everyone in the area got out.
A spokesperson for Frankton Motor told RNZ it had been a hard time for them.
They said they would be re-opening as soon as the building was ready and customers could go to their second Frankton branch in the meantime.
The mechanic did not confirm if any customer's vehicles had been affected.
FENZ shift manager Blair Walklin confirmed several customer's vehicles were affected.
He said the fire investigator was yet to give an exact number of vehicles lost in the fire.
Heidi Shoston from Mobicomm, who is in the building behind the fire, said she heard several loud bangs after it had caught on fire.
"The whole front was completely engulfed in flames, and the smoke was black.
"Every now and then, there would be these loud bangs we think must have been oil drums heating up and blowing, which was a bit scary.
"You could feel the intense heat even from across the road."
Shoston said she could see burnt-out vehicles inside the building, but did not believe there were any people inside.
