Fire breaks out near Auckland electricity substation

Auckland Council is responding to an oil spill after a large fire at a Vector electrical substation in the Auckland suburb of Penrose on Thursday.The fire broke out on Thursday afternoon, throwing a black plume of smoke across the city.One person was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition and two others to Auckland City Hospital in a moderate condition.The fire has since been extinguished and power has been restored for all but one customer. Up to 12 fire engines were at the scene at the fire's peak and thousands were without power.Auckland Council team leader compliance Kevin Reeve said council was working alongside the Harbourmaster and FENZ to work out the extent of the oil spill after the fire and how to manage it."Our pollution response team and Healthy Waters are onsite, and investigations are ongoing."Once we've confirmed the extent of the discharge, we will be able to provide an update on the environmental monitoring required."Three Vector workers were carrying out maintenance at the facility "when there was an incident" Fire and Emergency assistant district commander Barry Thomas told 1News.A spokesperson for Vector told RNZ an investigation into the cause of the incident will be undertaken."We remain focused on the welfare and wellbeing of the crew."Fire and Emergency said crews would rotate through the evening and continuing to monitor the site for hot spots overnight.'All you could see was billowing, black smoke'Auckland Resident Kerry Prendeville was driving on Southern Motorway heading towards the Auckland city centre in the afternoon."All you could see was billowing, black smoke," he said.Passing Penrose, he said he could see the electricity substation well ablaze."I undid my window, and it was super hot. The heat was like an intense outdoor bonfire, that sort of hot heat you feel you can't get too close to it."A close up at the scene of a fire in Penrose, Auckland.Luka Forman / RNZLouise Kyle, who lived near the fire, said that after her power went out in the afternoon and she could see rising smoke outside."It was probably by that point maybe 150-plus feet in the air, black, thick, dense smoke. She said when she rushed to her car to leave the area, she could taste the smoke."By the time I'd managed to get myself downstairs and into the car, by that point you could definitely feel it in the back of your throat."Kyle said her car was covered in black ash.Mieke Thompson-Pain, who was near Mt Wellington when the fire erupted, said she was almost brought to tears by the scale of the blaze."I was driving over to my friend's house and my dad was in the car and he told me 'look, there's black smoke in the sky' and it was massive," she told RNZ.She said her friend's sister ran up the road fearing her own home was affected."It was very scary... I was almost brought to tears... it was just so large and, you know, you can't even imagine how many lives it's been impacting."Read back on how the incident unfolded: