New Zealand International Convention Centre fire
On Tuesday, 22 October 2019, a fire broke out on the roof of the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. The convention centre is to become part of the SkyCity complex and was undergoing construction by Fletcher Construction, due for completion before the end of the year. The site was occupied by construction workers at the time and was not open to the public.
Firefighters using fire engines to combat the fire on October 23 | |
| Date | 22 October 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 36.8491°S 174.7603°E |
| Type | Fire |
The incident led to large scale disruption in Auckland for over 48 hours as the fire continued to burn, forcing areas of the central business district to be shut down, in part because of disruption caused by smoke that was deemed toxic. Media organisations including TVNZ were impacted by building evacuations and street closures, leading to disruptions in national broadcasts and programming. The effort to put out the blaze resulted in a large emergency service response, including mobile alerts issued by Civil Defence.
By the evening of the fire, it had been classified as a "sixth-alarm", the highest category of response for an urban fire in New Zealand. Efforts to put out the blaze were complicated by unfavourable weather, with winds of up to 110km/h fanning flames. The fire continued to burn through to the following day, and efforts to extinguish and monitor hotspots continued through to Friday of that week.
The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management issued a mobile alert following the fire, warning Auckland residents to stay away from the city.
On 15 January 2022 a second fire broke out on the roof of the convention center. Police and at least seven fire engines attended.