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The aftermath of a fire in a boat repair shed in the suburb of Henderson (Shaun McLaren/ONE News) - Source: Shaun McLaren/ONE News -
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Fire-fighters were still at the scene of two serious fires in west Auckland on Sunday night, dampening down hot spots.
The first fire began at a boat repair shed in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson.
And just as fire-fighters had put that blaze out, another unrelated, by purely coincidental, fire began at the property right next to it.
More than a 100 fire-fighters were involved in putting out both the fires.
But it was the fire in the boat shed that was the biggest.
It began just after 11am in the morning on Rabone St, near Railside Ave, in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson, just south of the Henderson shopping mall.
Thick black smoke was seen rising from the fire, which could be seen by many in the skies over West Auckland and it took around 20 appliances and more than 70 fire-fighters to deal with the blaze.
A fire-fighter was crushed when a boat in the shed toppled sideways, catching him on the way down.
He was seen staggering away from the blaze with back injuries.
"He's been taken up to the Waitakere Hospital to be checked out. He was still walking so hopefully he's ok," said Area Commander Brian Edwards of the Auckland City Fire Service.
The fire-fighter was later released from the hospital with no serious injuries.
Reports say the shed, which was being used to rebuild boats, had also diesel stored there and other chemicals.
"Thousand litres of black diesel stored there and they lit an incinerator near it, one of the embers went into the diesel, there was a loud explosion. We come outside and all we could see was black smoke," said Neil Dyson, a neighbour.
But the cause of the fire is not yet known. Investigations in the fire have just begun.
The massive blaze ended neighbouring Sunday church services with a bang as people came out to see the towers of smoke.
But as flames engulfed the property, there was also an unlikely hero - Ellen Mullan.
Instead of getting to safety, she ran to the aid of three children living next door to the blaze.
"They were crying, they wouldn't come out&by then the cylinders were going up so just grabbed them and brought them down the road so they were safer," says Mullan.
The rescued children are tonight staying at a relatives home until they can return.
The ONE News team has been at the scene and will have full coverage at 6pm.
Are you near the scene of the fire? Send us your photos or footage.
