House fire near Gisborne Central School but no one hurt

The roof of a house on fire near Gisborne Central School.

A Gisborne school shut off part of its field while firefighters battled a house fire next to one of the exits as students were leaving for the day.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Alison Munn said three crews of firefighters responded to multiple calls about a building on fire in the suburb of Whataupoko about 2.55pm on Thursday and found a well-involved house fire when they arrived.

Munn said all of the occupants of the house, on Adair St near Gisborne Central School, had been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.

Firefighters had extinguished the blaze after an hour and a half and one crew remained at the scene as of 4.40pm to check for hot spots and dampen them.

The cause of the fire was undetermined and a fire investigator was scheduled to attend the scene on Friday morning.

Police were assisting with traffic management.

Smoke from the fire could be seen blocks away, over the top of buildings. Photo / James Pocock

A St John spokesperson said one rapid response unit attended but its assistance was not required.

A Gisborne Central School spokeswoman said part of the school field had been blocked off because the house fire was near an exit.

Photos of the scene appeared to show part of the roof of the building ablaze.