A smouldering fire at Matua Plunket Kindergarten kept emergency services busy yesterday afternoon.
Two fire trucks from Tauranga Fire Station were called at 3.40pm after staff at the kindergarten discovered the smouldering fire.
A spokesperson from Tauranga Fire Station said there was no blaze but a small, smouldering fire, possiblystarted by a cigarette butt, located against one side of a building, almost underneath it.
"There were a few structural pieces of timber and a log but the fire didn't catch alight. It appeared it had been smouldering for a number of days at least."
Staff at the kindergarten smelled smoke through the air conditioning unit, hunted around and found the source.
