South Auckland Residents Wake up to Toxic Smoke

Plumes of black smoke rises over Papakura as a fire takes hold in a scrap metal yard in Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 13, 2021. Phil Walter/Getty Images

A scrapyard blaze in south Auckland briefly brought the city’s train network to a standstill as residents received health warnings over the toxic smoke covering the region.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) were alerted to smoke in south Auckland at midnight on May 31. On arrival, they found a pile of scrap metal that was 70 metres long and wide and 10 metres high on fire.