Fire halts greyhound meeting at Manukau

An explosive fire in a maintenance shed brought a shock end to yesterday’s greyhound racing meeting in South Auckland.

But Auckland Greyhound Racing Club officials are counting their blessings after no people or dogs were injured in the incident.

The maintenance shed caught fire and then its sides blew out just after the eighth of 10 scheduled races was run at the Manukau track where the club race almost every Sunday.

Smoke blanketed the Southern Motorway and could be seen across Manukau City.

With the meeting operating under level 3 restrictions, there were no members of the public on course, only those essential to the running of the meeting after greyhound racing last Tuesday became the first live sport to return from lockdown in New Zealand.

“We have no idea what caused it,”

We keep no fuel in that shed, so it is a mystery but the most important thing is nobody was hurt.

AGRC chief executive Robert Death

AGRC chief executive Robert Death said. “We keep no fuel in that shed, so it is a mystery to us but the most important thing is nobody was hurt. But as you can imagine, it came as a real shock to everybody here.”

Death says one small grace for the club was the major mechanical equipment used by the club, like the tractor to grade the track, was not damaged because they were in use and not in the shed.

The incident was caught on live television as the meeting was being telecast around New Zealand and into Australia.

It is not expected to affect the club’s future meetings at the venue.