Fire and Emergency New Zealand will decide this morning on the next steps of action regarding the Sims Metal yard blaze.

Firefighters have entered the second day of fighting the inferno which started in a pile of scrap car parts at the premises on James Fletcher Dr in Favona.

The cause of the blaze, which sent out plumes of thick black toxic smoke across the city - noticed by residents living 18km away in Maraetai - is yet to be established.

Fire and Emergency crews work to put out the blaze at Sims Metal on James Fletcher Drive in Favona, South Auckland. May 31, 2023. Photo / Alex Burton

A FENZ spokesperson told the Herald there remained only three crews at the site overnight for monitoring.

And a decision by FENZ staff was to be made this morning.

The cause of the fire was not yet established, the FENZ spokesperson said.

”It was something in the pile. We are unsure of whether it was suspicious at this stage. Fire investigators are not at the site anymore.”

This was the ninth fire in the past five years at the exact location, and a nearby business owner who experienced a significant trade disruption yesterday wants the site to be investigated.

One local business owner called the recurring fires “inexcusable”, telling the Herald Sims Metals ought to be investigated for any issues. Auckland Council said it would review any issues which may have caused the fire.

Firefighters battled a blaze in a pile of scrap metal at a yard in South Auckland's Favona. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Fire and Emergency NZ (Fenz) district manager Brad Mosby said they had responded to nine fires, including yesterday’s, at Sims Metals since November 2017.

“Four of these required firefighting activities, two of which were scrap metal pile fires in 2018 and 2021.”

More than 80 firefighters tackled an out-on-control blaze “as high as warehouses” at the scrap yard on March 7, 2018.

Fenz incident controller Phil Larcombe told 1News the recurring fires were “not good enough”.

“We’ve been working with management over the years to put better systems in place,” Larcombe said.

Earlier in the day, Sims Metals apologised to neighbours and nearby employees for the inconvenience created by the fire.

“The health and welfare of our community ... is of paramount importance to us, and we are deeply sorry for the inconvenience that this incident has caused,” the company said.

“Our practice is to never speculate on the cause of a fire, but we will conduct a review of the incident and take appropriate action to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence, including further review and assessment of inbound material to identify potentially harmful components.”

Smoke billows from a fire at a metal recycling depot in Favona. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Auckland Council’s general manager of licensing and regulatory compliance Mervyn Chetty said council officers were working alongside Fenz to assess any environmental damage and health risks caused.

Chetty said there were moderate to high risks associated with scrap metal yards and they were not allowed to discharge any contaminants into the land, water or air.

“Scrap yards serve a purpose; however, site owners must take their responsibilities seriously, around storing, stockpiling and managing this material.

“In a fire such as this one, Auckland Council will work with partner agencies such as Fire and Emergency and the site itself to review procedures that may have led to the cause.”

Firefighters were using three hoses to douse the fire from two ladders, one unmanned, about midday.

Two claw excavators were moving scrap as the fire continued to burn and metal shredding machinery and conveyor belts were still operating.

Piles of scrap metal were being separated out to make them smaller and easier to extinguish faster, Fenz assistant area commander for Waitematā Garry Lane said.

“It is a really big pile, [the smoke is] 10m high,” Lane said.

Mosby said the wind shifted about 10am and smoke began moving north over Greenlane, Ellerslie, Mt Wellington and Penrose.

One resident living 8km from the scene, Jo Robertson, said the smell of smoke woke her and her husband about 2.30am.

“We went to all the rooms, around the house, and outside we couldn’t find anything on fire. But the smell was very strong. I had to turn the air filter off.”