The pair “instinctively” called 111 about 3.20pm and fire crews arrived about two minutes later.
He said about 4pm crews were “still going at it” but it appeared no one was in the building.
Uffindell said fire crews arrived at the scene “very quickly”.
Firefighters respond to a report of a fire in an industrial building in Judea, Tauranga. Photo / Cameron Templer
“They just went in there, crowbarred open the door and smoke billowed out …
“They had their masks on and went straight in.”
Fire and Emergency shift manager Nadine Davies said they received a call about an industrial building fire on Birch Ave at 3.20pm.
Four fire engines from Mount Maunganui, Tauranga and Greerton responded.
It comes two days after Uffindell made headlines when he pulled over to help a motorcyclist injured in a crash a few cars ahead of him near the Tauranga Harbour Bridge.
National MP Sam Uffindell stopped to help a woman after a motorcycle crash near Tauranga Harbour Bridge on Tuesday.
“I just go about my business and if I ever see anyone that needs help, then I try and help them … on Tuesday, it was the lady who had come off her motorbike, and today, it was an industrial fire,” Uffindell said today.
“I’d like to think all people would do the same.”
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.