A major fire at a central Auckland supermarket has left thick black smoke billowing over the city.
Fire and Emergency crews were called to New World, Freemans Bay, at 11.18am today and found the blaze "well-involved".
It soon spread to the roof.
Fenz said 16 trucks were at the blaze, alongside two aerial trucks.
The fire remained uncontrolled as of 2pm.
An ambulance and two rapid response teams were at the scene.
Despite that, at least 100 people watched on.
One shopper told RNZ she was in the vegetable section and had to abandon her trolley when the fire started.
"Everyone was evacuated very, very quickly," she said.
[My car] is in the bottom carpark. I am [worried about it], very, as a lot of people are. The carpark was full this morning."
A resident who lives nearby, Angela Goodwin, said her dad was a former employee of New World.
"He used to be a baker... it's upsetting because I know the staff here," she says.
"I had to come down and have a look, it's pretty bad. A lot of damage, so I'm not sure what's going to happen."
A demolition contractor working on site said there are refurbishments all around the building, RNZ reported.
The contractor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was working on the demolition of parts of the structure around the entrance of the supermarket. He said the fire did not start where he was working.
He was also aware of refurbishment work around the back of the building.
Another contractor, who was working at the back of the supermarket's second floor car park, said he saw smoke coming from the ceiling and heard someone shout "fire".
The refrigeration and air conditioning contractor, who did not want to be named, said him and his colleagues have been working on ducting around the ceiling of the carpark.
He said the work is part of the refurbishment project at the supermarket.
- APL / RNZ
