Dozens of firefighters have been battling a large commercial building fire in Tākaka in Golden Bay this morning.
At 3am, the fire service received the first call about the blaze, which is being reported on social media as occurring at the ITM building.
On arrival, the 40m x 50m structure was “well involved”, Fire and Emergency southern shift manager Bailey Wells said.
Crews came from Tākaka, Collingwood, Upper Tākaka, Kaiteriteri, Motueka and Nelson City, with 13 trucks sent in total.
Every truck in the area was in use, so another truck was sent from Nelson to cover the area in case another fire was reported, Wells said.
At 4.50am, the fire had been mostly extinguished, with firefighters moving into “overhaul mode” and damping down hotspots.
There were no indications the fire had spread to neighbouring buildings and nobody was inside. The cause of the fire was unknown.
Live firing exercises by China have forced aircraft to divert flight paths.