Painter Michelle Annand was working on researching a painting in her studio inside the Manchester Unity Chambers building, on top of The Perc Cafe in Stuart St when she started smelling something burning at about 8pm this evening.
She did not see a fire but she decided to call Fire and Emergency NZ anyway.
Fenz Senior Station Officer Mark Leonard said the crew found an overheated internal light inside and was able to isolate it before it caused any damage.
He said it was really good Ms Annand made an early call and Fenz was able to respond quickly with three appliances from Roslyn, Dunedin and Willowbank station.
"I was shaking.
"I managed to grab my passport but I really didn’t want to lose my entire life’s art collection.’’
She thought the smell could have been coming from the kitchen downstairs or another tenant in the building leaving something on by accident.
When she went into the hallway the smell got stronger and she thought the back of the building could be on fire.
"It’s a really old building, I didn’t want it to go up.
"That would have been a disaster."
The Manchester Unity Building was built in 1883 and later extended and remodeled in 1933.
Ms Annand said it was lucky she was there at the time of the smell because she had nipped out to a Hare Krishna event not too long before then.
