Auckland southern motorway

"The truck was carrying highly flammable gas in cannisters and these have exploded over all of the northbound lanes and into the bush on the side of the road," ...

It was a good day for us that no one was hurt." "There is a significant amount of debris to clean up off the road and the fire is still burning out," police said. It was just crazy." He said the driver had attempted to "decouple the trailer" but was unable to do so due to the force of the fire. He said firefighters responding to the incident had "a fair idea of what was in the truck, and that was how we sort of based our tactics, knowing what was there and our choices to control the fire over the coming hours". Fire services were called to the scene soon afterwards, and the fire was "upgraded very quickly to a third alarm" after fire trucks en route to the scene "noticed a rather large plume of smoke and flame from the motorway".

Homes have been evacuated and part of Auckland southern motorway is closed after a truck carrying canisters containing highly flammable gas burst into ...

"So I bleary-eyed wandered to the back of the house and looked out the back and it was just absolutely orange, it was going up about fifty-odd metres to the pylons. It was a "bit of a rough start" to the morning when the family dog came into the bedroom and woke them just before 3am. Fire and Emergency were called to the scene just north of the Papakura on-ramp northbound just before 3am.

A number of homes have been evacuated after emergency services swarmed Auckland's Southern Motorway after a truck carrying chemicals caught fire.

Enormous explosions" sounding like "gunfire" woke people near Auckland's Southern Motorway as a truck exploded, closing the road and forcing dozens from ...

The fire has been contained, but large amounts of smoke was still pouring out over the area. “I was in bed and I heard this massive explosion. It was pretty intense. “It sounded like a damn war zone. “It was loud. Traffic map:

Lingering transport disruptions likely after chemical truck catches fire on Auckland Southern Motorway in Papakura, New Zealand, March 8.

However, authorities have warned that long delays are likely in both directions over the coming hours and that there is still a significant amount of debris to clean up on the highway. Lingering disruptions to transport are likely on and near the Auckland Southern Motorway in the Papakura area over the coming hours after a truck carrying chemicals caught fire on the route early March 8. Officials had evacuated dozens of people from homes near the thoroughfare and have reportedly issued a shelter-in-place notification for residences on Harbourside Drive.

Residents reported up to 50 houses were evacuated in the early hours as the fire grew.

By 6.30am, the streets of Papakura were gridlocked. Twelve fire crews have been at the scene. Another 20 minutes passed before the “whole front carriage” was on fire. “He attempted to disconnect the trailer but the trailer was alight by the time he managed to try and disconnect and had to move away from the vehicle as quickly as he could,” said Braid. “There were cordons and firefighters everywhere, the son watched YouTube and we were just chatting with neighbours and sitting in the car.” “He told us to get to the McDonald’s, now.” “We saw the almighty fire, so I rang 111 and managed to report it within 10 minutes of it growing,” Durbin told the Herald. “I checked the street and saw people milling around so I thought ‘okay, we need to go’.” “The firefighters believed the blast zone was 500 metres, so I got the heck out of there.” “We grabbed the dogs and animals, went across the road and watched the explosions and fires from a safer distance,” he said. As firefighters fought to contain the blaze, a drone was put in the air to survey the threat posed by the chemicals inside the truck. According to a witness, the rear carriage of the truck was first to spark - blazing within 10 minutes.

Witnesses have described explosions like “gunfire” and flames as high as 50 metres as a massive fire engulfed a chemical truck on Auckland's Southern Motor.

“The Southern Motorway remains closed northbound and is not expected to open for some time. Cars in front of us, including trucks, were doing u-turns on the motorway so we followed them.” Fire and Emergency northern shift manager Carren Larking said six fire engines remained at the scene. “The explosions were crazy.” The explosions you could feel from across the road, the heat and the impact. Mainfreight’s managing director Don Braid said the Chemcouriers truck was carrying cans of aerosol paint from Rotorua to Auckland. ”All you can see are red tail lights in every direction, I’ve never seen downtown Papakura like this before.” “With chemicals, we evacuated. Some of those explosions were well above power lines, 50-odd metres (high).” There were burning embers across our front lawn. flying fire projectiles were getting thrown into our front lawn. “Some of the explosions were massive...

Emergency services were called to the scene on the northbound shoulder of the Southern Motorway, just past the Papakura on-ramp, just before 3am, a Fire and ...

It was a good day for us that no one was hurt." "There is a significant amount of debris to clean up off the road and the fire is still burning out," police said. It was just crazy." He said the driver had attempted to "decouple the trailer" but was unable to do so due to the force of the fire. He said firefighters responding to the incident had "a fair idea of what was in the truck, and that was how we sort of based our tactics, knowing what was there and our choices to control the fire over the coming hours". Fire services were called to the scene soon afterwards, and the fire was "upgraded very quickly to a third alarm" after fire trucks en route to the scene "noticed a rather large plume of smoke and flame from the motorway".

Northbound lanes remain closed this morning, creating gridlock for commuters - but the fire has been extinguished after an hours-long battle by emergency ...

Cars in front of us, including trucks, were doing u-turns on the motorway so we followed them.” Fire and Emergency northern shift manager Carren Larking said six fire engines remained at the scene. “The Southern Motorway remains closed northbound and is not expected to open for some time. “The explosions were crazy.” The explosions you could feel from across the road, the heat and the impact. “Some of the explosions were massive...

The driver of the truck is "shaken but OK" following the explosion, which saw locals evacuated from their homes.

It only burnt for a short time and the smoke plume dissipated “reasonably quickly”. Te Whatu Ora Northern region medical officer of health Dr Sheryl Jury said public health had assessed the risk of exposure to smoke in the fire as “low”, and they had not received any reports of anyone becoming unwell as a result. [safe to pass the truck’s burnt remains](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/traffic-updates/300824890/motorway-truck-explosion-leaves-drivers-stuck-in-traffic-jams-for-hours). “We wish to apologise to those residents who needed to be evacuated and to the motorists who were caught in the subsequent traffic congestion,” Braid said. [sent flames and ash into the air](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/traffic-updates/300824729/explosions-like-a-bomb-blast-ash-covers-houses-as-truck-goes-up-in-flames-on-motorway), is “shaken but OK”, according to the vehicle’s owner. *