A man is lucky to be alive after the Palmerston North car yard he was buying a ute from exploded.
Fire in Palmerston North. Photo: Photo / Tim Cook
Emergency services battled the large blaze at 'We Buy Cars' on Keith Street for four hours today.
The fire ripped through the car yard building and sent plumes of black smoke across the region.
One person has been taken to hospital with moderate injuries.
Local man Phil was buying a ute at the garage when it blew up.
He and other people at the site heard a yell from within the garage and ran to help.
They saw a small fire and tried to put it out, but not before the flames reached fuel sitting nearby.
"Then the fire reached an LPG tank and fuel tanks and the items exploded, and with that the whole building went up in flames."
Phil said it was a shock to everybody.
The first explosion that he felt threw him back and had "a hell of a lot of force in it", Phil said.
The former firefighter said the blaze was incredibly dangerous, with fire explosions leaping 20 to 30 metres into the air.
The now funeral director said it was extremely lucky that people in the building got out when they did.
After the initial explosion, there were roughly 30 or 40 more explosions as cars, forklifts and other fuel tanks caught fire.
"It was absolutely horrific."
The fire was caused by a worker using a grinder near fuel, he said.
He said fire crews managed to contain the fire using air-lifts but, had it spread to the car yards, the damage could have been catastrophic.
"They all hold fuel, it would have gone through the whole yard and things would have been a lot worse."
Fire and Emergency said the fire has now been put out, but a crew will remain on site to watch for flare ups.