A fire and a suspected burst water pipe closed Whangarei's Strand Arcade in the central city during the busy lunchtime rush.
Firefighters were called to the Strand about midday after fire alarms sounded and caused the evacuation of the arcade.
By 12.30pm firefighters had established and cleared the site of the fire which was in a new Indian takeaway business.
Only three businesses remained off limits while the rest were open for trading.