4 Alarm fire at Auckland University campus

Fire at Auckland University's Epsom campus sparks panic By Matthew Theunissen 3:30 PM Monday May 13, 2013 The University of Auckland's Epsom campus was closed for teaching today after a fire broke out in the cafeteria. Black smoke filled the room where students were lining up for their morning tea about 10.20am. A cafeteria staff member, who did not wish to be identified, said the fire had started in a deep fryer in the kitchen. "We looked back and it was already burning quite fiercely so the barista got the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out, but it didn't work. "It just seemed to get worse - it blew up initially and then it started spreading so we had to get out. There was black smoke everywhere,'' he said. Bachelor of Education student Waratah Taogaga was making her way to the cafeteria from a lecture when she heard the fire alarm going off. "Everyone just started running out. There was heaps of black smoke - students were surrounded by it,'' she said. "People were freaking out and didn't know what to do, didn't know if class was still on. People have got assessments and big tests today. It fully disturbed the whole day.'' The university said in a statement that the building was evacuated promptly and there were no injuries. The Fire Service was notified and quickly had everything under control. The Epsom campus was closed for teaching for the rest of the day. Incident controller Dave Woon said it was fortunate no one was injured given the number of people who were on campus at the time. "There's a lot of people on this campus and the outcome has been pretty good. It's been efficient and the fire was out in a short space of time.'' The incident went to a fourth alarm - the most serious category of fire - and 16 fire appliances from surrounding stations had attended. "We think it's started in the cafeteria, it's gone through a couple of levels so we're unsure how that has happened,'' Mr Woon said. It was possible the fire had started in one of the deep fryers, which would be examined by a fire safety officer. Students were still unable to go to their classes by midday and were unsure when they'd be allowed back in. Footage shot by Bradley Ambrose