- By Jane Nixon
A man is due in court in Pukekohe today after a large blaze tore through a recycling business in the Auckland town of Waiuku on Monday, draining its reservoir and causing extensive damage to stock and neighbouring buildings.
The fire broke out just before 11pm on November 24 at the Future Post site on Kitchener Road, involving a large stockpile of plastic set aside for recycling.
Crews from 16 districts around the Auckland region responded, with firefighters working throughout the night to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported.
The fire was extinguished by 10.15am yesterday with the site handed back to the owners as specialist investigators worked to determine the cause.
Police immediately treated the blaze as suspicious. A scene guard remained in place overnight ahead of a full examination on Tuesday.
Acting Detective Inspector Chris Robson, of Counties Manukau Police’s criminal investigation branch, said a search warrant was executed at a Waiuku property last night.
“A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the property and has been charged with arson.”
The man is due to appear in the Pukekohe District Court today.
“The fire has caused extensive damage,” Robson said.
“We would like to acknowledge the assistance from the public, local businesses and Fire and Emergency NZ in this matter, as well as the work of the Counties Manukau Crime Squad in being able to resolve this matter quickly.”
Owner of Waiuku Business Park, Sam Wulff travelled from Tauranga at first light yesterday to assess the scene, saying the company’s main plant had avoided machinery damage but suffered a significant loss of finished stock.
“The social and financial cost is huge. It will be tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage,” Wulff told the Franklin Times.
“There’s a pile of material that is unusable, as well as damage to other neighbouring buildings.”
Wulff said he believed the fire “had to be arson”.
“For someone to [allegedly] decide to be inclined to get their entertainment by setting a fire to a business is pretty gut-wrenching,” he said.
“Our business is repurposing waste plastic which is a huge ecological service, and a huge portion of our finished stock is damaged beyond saleable use.”
The firefighting response also triggered a critical water alert for Waiuku on Tuesday morning.
At 9.15am, Watercare said the effort to control the blaze had nearly emptied the local reservoir, which had dropped to three per cent.
Police are asking anyone with further information to contact them online or call 105, quoting reference 251125/6093.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
