SkyCity fire: How an unremarkable day turned into Auckland's biggest blaze in decades
Wednesday, 21 October 2020
It started out as fairly unremarkable day in Auckland – the Great British Lions were touring the zoo on their day off and commuters were experiencing the usual traffic woes. But the first sight of smoke rising from SkyCity around lunchtime marked the beginning of a devastating blaze, the impact of which is still being felt in the city a year on. Here is an overview of the key moments as the story unfolded.
October 22
1pm: Reports begin of a fire starting to flare up in the CBD.
1:10pm: Hundreds of calls flood in to Fire and Emergency New Zealand as Aucklanders begin to see smoke billowing from the incomplete SkyCity Convention Centre.
1:20pm: Over the next ten minutes the CBD goes from normality, to shrouded in thick black smoke.
The fire breaks out in a construction site at the SkyCity Convention Centre, with workers speculating that it's been caused by a torch being used on a rubber waterproofing membrane.
**READ MORE:
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* SkyCity Auckland fire: Why is the smoke thick, black and toxic?
* Auckland SkyCity Convention Centre fire: Blaze has to burn itself out
* SkyCity fire: Stay away from Auckland CBD and out of 'toxic' smoke
**
1:30-2pm: At least 23 fire trucks make their way to the scene and one aerial appliance is sent from Hamilton as firefighters begin the long battle to control the fire.
“Snorkels”, which resemble a cherry picker, are used to fight the flames from a height, while firefighters work from level five to attack the blaze with hoses.
On the ground, bystanders are warned to leave the area as the lingering smoke is toxic.
3pm: Several lone firefighters brave the rooftops on foot, walking into black smoke, to reach the flames.
Area commander Geoff Purcell, of FENZ, says fire crews are trying to 'contain the blaze' and stop it spreading.
There hasn’t been many blazes like that in his 36-year career as a firefighter, he says.
3:15pm: A time-lapse of the fire shows just how fast it is spreading, with smoke billowing across the city.
4:15pm: The Auckland Regional Public Health Service issues an alert for people to keep clear of the CBD. One person has been taken to hospital in a serious condition, but a St John Ambulance spokeswoman can’t confirm if the person has suffered a smoke inhalation related injury.
5pm: As people scramble to get out of the city, a huge amount of traffic builds up as roads are closed and people are diverted around the area of the fire.
Auckland Transport spokesman John Nottage says about 20 bus routes are affected by road closures and bus users are facing 'pretty major delays”.
Hotels around the area, including the SkyCity Hotel, begin to close. The Lions rugby team are forced to evacuate and head straight for Hamilton, where their next game is scheduled.
6pm: More than 100 firefighters battle to contain the blaze. A forecast of gale-force winds only adds to the growing situation.
7pm: One firefighter is taken to hospital after suffering a medical event at the scene and three others have been treated at the scene of the fire.
Pictures taken by Stuff photographers and journalists throughout the day show the scale of the fire and the operation that is underway to contain it.
Purcell says there is no way to put the fire out from the roof as it can’t withstand the weight of the firefighters needed to put it out.
Instead, firefighters will spend the night trying to contain the blaze and stop it spreading.
'We just can't get to it to put it out. It's basically going to burn out,' Purcell says.
8pm: The fire burns on through the night and into the next day. Photos from the scene show firefighters battling the blaze in an orange glow.
October 23:
9am: More than 100 firefighters still remain on the offensive, trying to contain the blaze.
FENZ shift manager Craig Dally says the exact cause of the fire and how long it will continue to burn for is not yet known.
12pm: FENZ says crews would be at the scene for another 24 hours and the biggest risk was the 'integrity of the roof”.
It is expected the roof – described by one expert as a flammable panel of wood, straw and bitumen – will eventually burn out completely about 8pm.
3pm: The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, visits the site just a day after the fire broke out, praising the “incredibly professional” emergency services.
'We are all very grateful that this far the focus has been on preserving safety of those working in and around the site.'
4pm: Watercare says it is providing the water being used to put out the fire and about 200 litres of water is being used per second.
10pm: Flames are still visibly flickering on the roof into the night, with FENZ unable to provide a further update.
October 24:
7am: Fire and Emergency NZ area commander Richard Twomey says firefighters have the fire under control by about 7am, some 40 hours after the blaze broke out.
The site is still smouldering 'to the point where if the wind gets ahold of it could turn into a flame', adding the situation could continue through Thursday evening, he says.
8am: Streets remain cordoned off as the emergency response enters its third day.
Up to 100 firefighters are still at the scene trying to control the fire.
1pm: FENZ says that over the next few days firefighters will be undertaking the 'overhaul phase”.
“This involves turning over the ash and debris within the building, looking for hot spots and damping down any we find.'
It is not known how long this process will take.
Millions of litres of water used to extinguish the fire result in several basement layers, including car parks, being flooded, to the point where cars are completely covered in the lowest level.
2pm: Although the fire is under control, it is not out and there remains hot spots and flare-ups. About 2pm flames are visible again, with thick smoke drifting across neighbouring streets.
6pm: As firefighters work to contain the blaze, a large quantity of contaminated water has pooled in the basement of the convention centre. About eight million litres of it is then pumped into the Viaduct Harbour, through the wastewater network.
Safeswim issues a warning for St Marys Bay due to “reports of hazardous substances released into the bay”.
Nick Vigar, Safeswim's programme manager says the water contains volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons and combustion products.
The following days:
October 25: Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) Assistant Area Commander Dave Woon says 'active firefighting” to dampen down pockets of flames is still ongoing three days after the fire started.
But with the situation well in hand, multiple probes could now begin.
FENZ Assistant Area Commander Mike Shaw, who is leading the recovery team, says a “large number' of investigation teams from various organisations are set to begin working inside the building.
Operations outside the building begin to wind down.
October 26: SkyCity CEO Graeme Stephens tells Stuff he was with Michael Ahearne, their chief operating officer, and they got a message from one of their senior managers that there was a fire at the convention centre.
”Wednesday for me is a day of smoke and an empty, haunted, Apocalypse Now-type precinct.”
Takapuna senior station officer Katie Smart was in Auckland to cover other incidents, including a private fire alarm activation, before the SkyCity fire was raised to the fifth alarm and she began asking the communications centre to be assigned to the fire.
'We wanted to get stuck in,' she says.
'Then we heard the sixth alarm we were like 's***, this must be pretty chaotic.'
October 27: Auckland Property Investors Association vice president Peter Lewis says it is the obligation of landlords to provide a safe and clean property as a 'basic bottom line' for properties left smokey and sooty due to the fire.
The landlord must rectify the damage 'as rapidly as possible', which could involve bringing in a commercial cleaning company, he says.
Aftermath:
November 9: A survey of the crews who battled the fire, by the firefighters union, find they were fatigued, felt inadequately trained and had equipment issues.
The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union carried out a survey in the wake of the fire, which it has given to an operational review in the hopes changes will be made.
Responses from 134 Auckland union members reveal 81 per cent felt their fatigue levels were not adequately monitored and managed.
Crews worked an average of 25 hours, the union says, but lacked proper meals during this time and were forced to urinate in cafe and public toilets in the absence of a portable ablution block.
April 22, 2020: FENZ release the report of their investigation into the cause of the SkyCity Convention Centre fire.
The report finds that the fire began after a waterproof membrane was momentarily exposed to a worker’s gas torch.
'After smouldering unnoticed inside the roll, an intense fire developed that burnt through the top layer of the cap sheet, and then spread across the level seven roof membrane”, FENX Te Hiku Region Manager Ron Devlin says.
October 6, 2020: A further, independent, review finds that while FENZ could not have prevented the extensive loss and damage caused in the fire, their response could have been better.
Included in their eleven recommendations was that FENZ review its strategies to understand and manage high-risk buildings, including those under construction, and provide “clear direction” to communications staff and commanders about the capability of FENZ brigades in the area to respond to “a range of hazards”.