Fire in historic building

Firefighters rushed into a 1906 landmark building in Dunedin’s city centre to extinguish a second-floor fire on Saturday morning.

A small crowd gathered to watch as firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the category 2 Imperial Buildings about 10.20am.

Firefighters also used a hydraulic elevating platform to offer support outside the windows of the triangular brick building at the intersection of Dowling St and Queens Gardens.

Dunedin Central Station Senior Station Officer Antony O’Neill said the fire on the second floor of the building was in a server room that housed computer equipment.

Two crews in breathing apparatus entered the building to fight the fire, he said.

There was very heavy smoke-logging in the building when fire crews arrived, he said.

After the fire was extinguished, firefighters moved through the building opening windows, releasing thick black plumes of smoke, as the building was cleared of smoke.

While the cause of the fire remained unknown at the weekend, Mr O’Neill said it was possibly an electrical fire.