Fire crews still attempting to put out massive fire at Matatoki near Thames

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

A fire which tore through a Thames timber mill could have caused 'several million dollars' of damage.

Fire and Emergency NZ were called to the building and vegetation fire at a mill on Paeroa Kopu Rd in Matatoki at about 9.20pm on Tuesday.

Four fire trucks and about 20 firefighters from Rotorua, Hamilton and Tauraunga are still working to fully put out multiple blazes, Fire and Emergency NZ Eastern Waikato area manager Aaron Waterreus said.

The Kopine Mill is home to Smart Environmental, a private refuge transfer station.

Site owner, and Smart Environmental managing director, Grahame Christian said the fire began in a pile of timber that had been set aside to be shredded up for mulch.

Christian, who is based in Auckland, estimated he could see the flames from 20-kilometres away when he drove to the scene on Tuesday night.

He said the heavy rain did not help lessen the fire at all. 

'When I got here, everything was as dry as timber,' he said.

'The incredible thing is that it didn't catch fire to the materials recovery facility because that houses thousands of tonnes of product.

'It would have been a disaster. The fire service did an incredible job of containing [the fire].

'It's a small miracle nothing else is burnt.'

Three industrial buildings on the site were lost in the fire, and some vehicles were damaged.

He estimated that damage would be up into 'several million dollars' but would not know anything definite until an insurance assessment was performed.

Residents had to evacuate their homes to escape embers from the massive blaze.

Neighbour Colin Louden said those living at the top of Warahoe St were evacuated because strong wind was blowing embers 'right into their properties'.

Another local resident, who didn't want to be named, heard a large explosion at around 9pm.

'I thought it sounded like gas canisters exploding,' she said.

'I really felt for the fire fighters as they were battling not only the fire but winds of tornado strength.'

The thick smoke forced another local resident to leave his home and go to his father's place for the night.

'There was a stack of tyres which was creating plenty of smoke and it was just best to get out,' he said on Wednesday morning.

The man went and had a look at the fire after he heard an explosion which woke him up around 9pm.

'The heat was unreal. Embers were flying around in the wind and starting new fires. It was an impressive fire.'

He said that the destruction was unreal.

'The boys were working really, hard, they had a tough job with the wind that was in the area last night,' he said.

Waterreus said the fire was contained but the efforts were focused now on extinguishing the fire.

'It will take a lot of work extinguishing because of what is here.'

Waterreus said it was still too soon to say what caused the blaze.

While they'd like to be out by the end of Wednesday, he said they could still be there on Thursday 'doing the final dampening down'.

He said it was a difficult fire logistically because there are 'so many areas of work'.

'We're trying to prioritise where we put the resources.

'Our volunteers are absolutely shattered after a long night, and so have been swapped out with crews from other areas.

'We're so grateful for their efforts, working in such trying conditions all night and many of them have still had to go to their other jobs today.'

A statement on the Matatoki Primary School facebook page said that the school has been closed for the day, due to concerns for students' safety following the fire.