Auckland SkyCity Convention Centre fire sees hotel guests locked out, other hotels shut doors

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

SkyCity Hotel guest Rena Dudman, from Hamilton, had to relocate after a major fire. She said hotel staff helped her to find a new place to stay.

Guests have been locked out of the SkyCity precinct after a major fire and one nearby hotel is not making rooms available due to evacuation fears.

The fire, at the SkyCity Convention Centre construction site in Auckland's CBD, saw one person admitted to hospital with serious injuries on Tuesday.

The entire SkyCity precinct, including the casino, hotels and restaurants, had been evacuated and guests could be seen making their way through the city, pulling suitcases.

Pedestrians wear masks to protect themselves from the smoke.

Julie Hanson, the manager of the nearby Albion Hotel, said she was unsure whether it would also be evacuated.

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Rena Dudman said hotel staff had helped her find another room elsewhere.

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The smoke could be seen clearly from the North Shore.

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Police, Fire and Emergency NZ and the Auckland Regional Public Health Service had advised people to stay out of the CBD for their own safety.

The hotel had three vacant rooms, but Hanson was not making those available just in case.

'I don't want to put anyone at risk,' she said.

Econo Lodge City Central supervisor Karan Gambhir said there had a been a lot of cancellations due to the fire.

Two people had come looking to relocate, Gambhir said.

Guests staying at the hotel could 'feel the smoke in the upper floors', he said.

Hotel staff had closed all the windows, turned off the air-conditioning and were asking people to stay in their rooms.

The duty manager at the Rydges in Auckland said it hadn't received any new guests from the SkyCity relocation.

'It's just been people trying to avoid the traffic,' he said.

Hamilton woman Rena Dudman came up to Auckland to work at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

She was meant to stay at SkyCity on Tuesday night.

Dudman said she first became aware of the fire when she was at her office in the Spark building but thought it would be put out quickly.

It was about 6pm before she was able to collect her bags from the hotel.

Dudman said hotel staff had helped her organise a room elsewhere.

They were doing the best they could, given the circumstance, she said.

'Shucks, it's an unprecedented thing.

'It was crazy. It was just like a war zone.'

Dudman said the hotel had run out of masks to give out to guests.

SkyCity management had also given hotel staff taxi chits to get home and to get to work on Wednesday, she said.

A SkyCity spokeswoman said anyone planning to visit SkyCity venues on Tuesday should make alternative arrangements.

'We apologise for any inconvenience,' she said.

'The safety of our staff and customers remains our priority.'