Inside Auckland's Freemans Bay New World after blaze

9:21 pm on 17 June 2025

Footage inside the central Auckland supermarket that caught fire today shows the damage sustained from the blaze, which at its peak had 20 fire trucks on-site.

The fire in the Freemans Bay supermarket has now been extinguished.

The video shows what is left of the supermarket ceiling, while water floods out the door and down the stairs.

Stock that survived the blaze is seen in the corner and damaged materials hang from the roof.

The video was given to RNZ by a member of the public.

Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin said the fire at the New World store started in a rebuild area, with the supermarket under renovation.

He could not confirm the cause.

Quin said the value of stock loss was unknown, but staff would be looked after and most customers had been reunited with their undamaged cars.

The fire started in the mezzanine roof space and spread inside to aisles.

Fire and Emergency senior station officer Mark Neville said firefighters would remain there overnight to deal with any hotspots and ensure the perimeter of the site was secure.

Currently there are nine crews still at the site and this will reduce to five.

Fire and Emergency expects to hand the building back to the property owners on Wednesday morning.

It is too soon to have any information about the fire investigation, Neville said.

A Stay Inside Emergency Alert was issued for people southwest of the fire, but that had since been lifted.

The public has been asked to avoid the area.

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