Firefighters battle huge Dunedin blaze

Firefighters were late this morning still dampening down hot spots at the scene of a large industrial fire in Dunedin.

A passing motorist reported seeing flames coming out of the roof of the Giltic Precision Casting building, on State Highway 1, just before 5am today.

At its height, 26 firefighters and seven appliances battled the flames.

A Dunedin police spokesman said fortunately the building was situated just about next door to the Willowbank Fire Station.

Dunedin fire senior station officer Alan Sparks said it took about an hour and a half to contain the blaze.

The company's dispatch area and staff room were extensively damaged.

"It was a relatively big fire - the company will probably be closed for quite some time," he said.

Firefighters were still investigating the cause of an explosion heard from inside the building.

The building was near a residential area, but it was not necessary to evacuate homes.

Mr Sparks said investigators were at the scene looking into the cause of the fire.

- NZPA