Auckland CBD’s Queen St was closed earlier this afternoon after a reported gas leak and a small fire.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesman said they received a report of a gas smell at The Strand Arcade about 1.49pm today.
The building, 233 Queen St, was evacuated.
After investigating, Vector said there was no gas leak.
A small fire was in the building’s basement. Fenz crews doused the blaze. Vector said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.
Crews were ventilating the basement and working with Auckland’s gas authority Vector to find the origin of the smell.
Seven fire trucks attended the scene along with two ladder trucks and a specialist hazardous materials unit.
Auckland Transport said the road closed because of the incident and buses would be detoured.
The cordon was lifted shortly after 4pm.
Auckland Transport said all bus services had resumed and “everything was back to normal” as of 4.11pm.
The man was last seen at 7am on Kaitawa Rd.