A fire at an Oamaru petrol station "could have been substantially worse" if not for the quick response from staff and firefighters.
Oamaru Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Steve Couper said the fire in the ceiling cavity of the Z station in Severn St was "building quite nicely ... spreading along the inside of the roofline" before firefighters arrived after 6.30pm on Thursday.
"It was pretty lucky — lucky they [the staff] noticed it when they did," Mr Couper said.
"The staff did well — they made sure everybody was out, they cordoned it off, so it was easy enough for us to make access.
"Another five or 10 minutes would have made a big difference. It could have been substantially worse, really."
Two fire engines responded to the structure fire and two firefighters entered the building in breathing apparatus. The firefighters had to remove "multiple" ceiling tiles to access the fire, which had grown to about 4m by 2m.
Mr Couper said a fire at a petrol station would have been more dangerous if it was a car on fire in the station’s forecourt.
"To us, it’s just another structure fire," he said.
"One of the biggest things, because it looked like it was almost certainly electrical, was that we had the power turned off."
A Z Energy spokesman praised the actions of the staff. He said they realised something was wrong when the power went off, shutting the pumps off. They "almost immediately" saw smoke coming from the roof and called emergency services. The petrol station sustained "minor damage" and was cordoned off and closed for much of yesterday.
