NZFF

Did anyone see this on the news? I live about 30k south of hamilton and we were having a bbq at the time, and I heard this massive explosion in the distance somewhere, and then since then, black smoke has been billowing out from the horizon, far, far into the sky. Feel sorry for the guys that own the coolstores (I personally know them)

I just drove right past it at 20meters the place is gutted traffic is building up and only traveling south on the cambridge rd ,milk tankers ,huntly fire and many other trucks are carting water out that way . the heat is amazing the place was still burning hard 10min ago

damn, i so wish i could drive by, but dads like "your not wasting petrol on that thing".... we are driving past tomorrow though, so will be sure to check out the smouldering heap.
i dont actually know the roads around it, but form the clips i saw on the news, the road practically goes right past it doesnt it? No trees in the way?

Shocking news really. Sorry for the fire fighters Would anyone know what would blow up at a cool store?

That explosion is near where a family friend lives (withing 5km I think of where the explosion was)

not sure what caused it, all I know is that it was an ice pack factory.
EDIT no it is not an ice pack factory, but the firm was called Icepak Coolstores.
Icepak Coolstores is approved by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority for storage of dairy products for export to the European Union.
The initial explosion was caused by what they beleive was a gas bottle.

Well, I looked out the window, and despite it being dark, I can still see a massive black plume coming out from the horizon. Looks like the firefighters are in for a long night.

New Zealand Fire Service corporate communications manager Scott Sargentina said Senior Station Officer Derek Lovell died from his injuries at Waikato Hospital.

Seven others from Mr Lovell's Hamilton-based crew were injured in the blast at Icepak Group's coolstore in suburban Tamahere on the southeast outskirts of the city.

Two of the officers are still listed in a critical condition and four others are in a serious but stable condition.

One firefighter has subsequently been discharged.

"The New Zealand Fire Service extends its deepest sympathy to the family of Mr Lovell and is providing support and assistance to them and to the other firefighters and their families involved in this tragic incident," Mr Sargentina said..

"It's like those pictures you see of the nuclear bomb going off ... it's just a huge funnel of black black smoke pouring up into the sky, with huge bright orange flames leaping out of the coolstores," journalist Philippa Stevenson, who lives about 150 metres from the scene, said.

Ms Stevenson said she was biking down the road near the coolstore when "there was this almighty boom went up".

"I thought initially it was a thunder clap but it wasn't because it was too massive, it felt like I had been hit by something."

"I turned around on my bike and raced down there to see these two fire trucks between the two big coolstores, flames already coming from one of the coolstores.

"People came from everywhere because of this pumpkin night event over at the Tamahere School, which is sort like a Halloween type of thing at a different time of year.

"People were racing over from the wedding reception place on the other side of Icepak and rushed in and grabbed firemen and somebody was doing CPR on one of the firemen."

Tamahere School principal Waveney Parker told the Waikato Times that teachers and staff acted quickly to evacuate all children and visitors.

"The gala had just started at 4pm and there were a number of people on site."

She did not know the exact number of people at the school at the time.

"It was a lot of people. We were hoping for a good turnout and there were a lot of people arriving."

"I gather the fire is under control and the school at this stage is okay."

Another nearby resident, Susan Lalich, described the incident as a "huge bang" to the Waikato Times.

"The windows shook and we thought something had hit the roof. The dog was barking."

Another local who did not want to be named, said he heard "one big bang" at about 4.30pm.

"The house shook, it sounded like something had exploded in the house."

Richard Dewaard had driven the back roads from their home in Hillcrest to see the unfolding drama. "We heard some firefighters were injured and we could see the smoke from our house. It's pretty sad really."

Michelle Hyland and her friend Laura Grant were in a video store in central Hamilton when they saw the smoke and decided to come for a look. "It sounds like fireworks going off," Ms Hyland said.

"We were just being nosy and came out. It doesn't look like it's subsiding, it's getting bigger and more aggressive "“ it's getting worse."

The cause of the blast in the coolstore - reported to be holding cheese, has not yet been determined.

Icepak Group owner Jan Van Eden told Radio New Zealand no one was working the coolstore when the blast occurred.

About 80 to 100 firefighters and about 20 trucks were called in to fight the fire.

From stuff.co.nz, very sad

The Herald Sunday Star-Times said something about the refrigeration gases causing the explosion?

Alex

I am a volunteer firefighter and have just come back from that fire! A couple of the members of that crew who were injured I know from brigade training courses. Its a distressing time for the Fire Service. My thoughts are with the families of those involved, at this time its speculation as to what caused the explosion, that we all await the fire investigation report. I dont think we should put much weight on media reports until all the facts are in, it is something I never thought I would see as a firefighter to be at such a huge fire.

we drove past the place yesterday afternoon and the place is really well and truly gutted. Theres a write up on page 2 of the herald by the ex owner of icepak, saying the possible cause of the explosion.
I go to te awamutu college, and since the wind was blowing the smoke south, i got the nice fresh smell of burnt cheese to smell all day... great fun...
I feel sorry for two groups of people
1: The firefighters and the families of those injured
2: The people who live right next to the fire, some of which had their houses scorched, windows blown in, and bits of coolstore on their front lawns from the explosion