The cold light of day has revealed the devastation caused by a fire that ravaged a Bay View service station last night.

Emergency services were called to the BP on Main North Rd about 9.30pm, and spent several hours quelling what some have described as an "inferno".

This morning, the smell of smoke was still in the air, and a wall of heat could be felt from outside the cordon on the grass verge in front of the store. 

Bay View BP's store manager was at the scene inspecting the damage. Queues of cars travelling on the busy road slowed down to see the damage as they drove past.

A number of residents in the area also stopped by the cordon. Charred remains are all that is left on the service station's forecourt.

Two cars by what used to be petrol pumps appear to have also been significantly damaged.

Fire and Emergency Hawke's Bay Assistant Area Commander Glen Varcoe said the forecourt is "destroyed" but the surrounding buildings are in good knick. 

"The fire was contained to the forecourt only and that was probably thanks to the procedures that the petrol station have got in place to cut off the fuel and the power to contain it to the forecourt." 

Eight appliances from Bay View, Napier and Hastings attended. 

"I would say the crews worked pretty quickly and had it under control within half-an-hour but then we were there for probably another two to four hours after just making sure that it was safe to handover," Varcoe said. 

He said these days petrol stations are built to protect any exposures, to protect the fuel tanks and any surrounding buildings.

While the cause of the fire is yet to be officially determined by FENZ and Police investigators, preliminary enquiries have established a container of petrol was filled, placed inside a vehicle, and subsequently ignited by a flame from a cigarette lighter, Eastern District Criminal Investigations Manager, Detective Inspector Rob Jones said.

"Initial indications are this was accidental however Police will continue to review all facts in conjunction with FENZ."

Jones said the people connected to the fire, other customers, and BP employees were extremely lucky.

"The entire service station forecourt was alight within minutes and it is nothing short of a miracle that nobody was injured or killed."

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said they sent one ambulance but were not required. 

The charred remains of the BP service station's forecourt.

Emma Zwierzchowski, who lives right next door to the service station on the left, had just returned home close to 9am after fleeing the area with her partner, two children, and dog late last night.

She never expected the petrol station to be on fire. At first, she thought it was either a fight or a crash.

"There were no sirens, there was nothing. My dog was barking but it just sounded like there was a big fight out there. I could hear girls and it just sounded like it was a domestic because there's heaps of drama all the time and then I thought it was a crash because I could hear the trucks slowing down," she told Hawke's Bay App.

But when she turned the corner, she heard someone say there was a fire. "I was like oh s*** the clothing bin is on fire and I went around and I saw it all red and it was going "boom".

"I just went running inside to my partner and I was like omg we've got to leave." Her partner, who was showering at the time didn't believe her until he went and had a look himself. His immediate reaction was "we need to get out".

"I grabbed my daughter who was asleep and my other daughter and we just chucked them in the back of the truck, chucked the dog on the back of the ute and then we just took off and we left the whole house open."

They drove up the hill as they feared their house was going to "explode". 

Thermal imaging cameras capture the temperature of the forecourt.

"My partner was like we just need to get the heck out so we went up to the hill and then there was a lovely couple up there who gave us blankets and then my friend came in, got us, and took us back home."

She said her partner tried to come down and see if their house was okay but "couldn't get anywhere".

"All night I was seeing the updates and I rang the police and asked them to check on our house, which they did.

"Luckily it's fine. There's no smoke damage or anything."

The house on the other side of the petrol station also escaped damage. The owner, who doesn't live at the property came out to inspect the damage. He said his father, who lives at the property was fine. 

He declined to comment further, rendered speechless by what had happened.

Another resident who lives further down the street, and did not wish to be named said he didn't know what was happening to start with.

"All these cars were all doing u-turns and wheelies and taking off and people were yelling and carrying on.

"The booms were quite loud. My granddaughter was scared. We were going to have to evacuate but then they came and told us it was okay.

He said the scene was "pretty well controlled". "You've got to give them that, they were onto it; police, the fire brigade, and council."

A BP spokesperson said: "Safety is always our top priority and staff acted quickly to evacuate the site before calling emergency services, who then managed the situation.

"Thankfully no one was injured. The site remains temporarily closed."

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