Firefighters have rushed to a fire at a restaurant near Invercargill's Oreti Beach.

An Otago Daily Times reporter said six fire trucks including one from Invercargill Airport were at The Cabbage Tree Restaurant about 11.30am.

Thick smoke plumed from the building but there was no obvious sign of damage from the outside.

Fire crews at the scene of the blaze at the The Cabbage Tree Restaurant. Photo: Tayler Mutton

The restaurant appeared to be closed at the time of the fire, but a small crowd had gathered from the nearby Beach Road Holiday Park, the reporter said.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokesperson said they received a 111 call for a building fire on Dunns Rd just after 11am.

Fenz responded with two fire trucks and a tanker from Invercargill.

On arrival the fire crew transmitted a second alarm which brought more resources, two other fire engines and a tanker from Wallacetown.

Crews used multiple deliveries to extinguish the blaze and they were now starting to scale back the incident.

- Allied Media