One person has died in a house fire that sent smoke billowing over Auckland's Onehunga this morning.
Several other people managed to escape the blaze, with emergency crews from across Auckland responding to the fire on Trafalgar St at around 7.20am on Friday.
"We have 12 appliances in attendance and are still working to contain and extinguish the fire," a spokesperson said.
Crews from Onehunga, Ellerslie, Mount Roskill, Balmoral, Auckland City, Otara, Remuera, Mangere, Avondale, Parnell, Otahuhu, and Papatoetoe stations were on scene.
Fire and Emergency NZ acting assistant commander Kenton Rusbridge confirmed that one person was found dead in the building.
“We’ve confirmed that there is one fatality that’s been located inside the building,” Rusbridge said.
He added that hoarding had contributed to the extremity of the blaze.
"The building was heavily fuel-loaded as a result of some hoarding, resulting in the extreme fire conditions found by the fire crews," he said.
"I’d like to take this chance to remind everybody how critical it is to have tested working smoke alarms and to have a safe escape plan so you can get out of a fire when required."
The house fire broke out in Auckland's Onehunga on Friday. (Source: Supplied)
Trafalgar St was closed between Pleasant St and Forbes St, while Symonds St was closed to Aumoana Ln.
Police said cordons were expected to remain in place for most of the day.
Footage captured by 1News show police, firefighters and ambulances on scene, with crews spraying water onto the smoking roof of the house.
St John said it had three ambulances, an operations manager and two rapid response vehicles on the scene.
"Our ambulance crews have assessed four people in a minor condition at the scene."
''It's his family home' – resident
Orini Johnson, one of residents on the property who escaped, told 1News she woke to screams, smoke and flames this morning.
"I woke up to just my [other residents] screaming and banging on my door to come and get me out of here, to let me out of the house and we had to get out of the house," she said.
"I could smell it burning. It was just paper and everything. It was engulfed."
She said six adults were at the property including the landlord.
"It’s his family home … It’s just really unbelievable."
'A deeply sad day for Onehunga' – MP
Local MP Greg Fleming said he was ‘deeply saddened” by news one person had died in the blaze.
“My thoughts and prayers are with their family, friends and neighbours at what will be an unimaginably hard day,” he said.
Fleming said the 12 fire crews who battled the blaze did "everything they could in very difficult conditions".
"This is a deeply sad day for Onehunga,” the Maungakiekie MP said.
Trafalgar and Symonds streets remained cordoned off while fire investigators worked at the property.
Auckland Transport said route 67A and 67B buses travelling towards the city were being diverted via Pah, Mt Albert and Manukau roads.
Services heading away from the city were detouring via Manukau, Mt Albert and Pah roads before continuing along Queenstown Rd.
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