Fires across the country overnight keep firefighters, police busy

A large pile of tyres burned in Amberley, Canterbury, yesterday. Photo / Leanne Ellis

A blazing night of fires across the country is keeping Fire and Emergency and the police busy.

A fire in a Rotorua house early this morning followed a blaze at an industrial building in Nelson, a massive tyre fire in rural North Canterbury and fires at a women's prison in South Auckland.

Fire crews were called to a Housing NZ home on Emerald St in Rotorua's Pukehangi area at 4.30am after a fire broke out in the kitchen.

A Fire and Emergency northern communications spokesman said an ambulance was called and three people were treated for smoke inhalation. One was taken to Rotorua Hospital.

Flames had spread into the ceiling and two brigades were called to put out the blaze.

Crews left the property at 6.30am.

Police are investigating two small fires at the Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility in Wiri, South Auckland, which were believed to have been lit by prisoners.

Jeanette Burns, Department of Corrections northern regional commissioner, said two prisoners had lit small fires in the cells.

Three prisoners suffering suspecting smoke inhalation are being assessed.

Fire and Emergency sent two fire engines but Burns said that prison staff put out the fires.

"A full review will be undertaken and the prisoners who started the fires will he held to account for the actions," she said.

A pile of about 500 tyres set ablaze on Monday night in a rural property on Racecourse Rd, just north of Amberley, has also prompted an investigation.

Four fire engines and eight water tankers were called to the tyre fire at 6pm, and the tyres were engulfed in flames when crews arrived.

A Fire and Emergency spokesman said firefighters allowed the fire to burn out and left the property at 10.30pm.

Investigations into what caused the fire will begin this morning.

And firefighters will be working through the morning to control a fire raging in an industrial building in Nelson.

Crews from Stoke, Nelson and Richmond were alerted to the blaze at the Pascoe St building at 4.13am.

No one was injured and there were no indications anybody was in the building, according to Fire and Emergency.

The NDT Developments building had already been extensively damaged when crews arrived.

Firefighters were able to contain it from spreading to nearby buildings. The fire started at slightly before 2am.

Nelson Fire station officer Craig Davies says the fire was "fully involved" when they arrived.

"It was going lickity split when we got there. The biggest concern was stopping it spreading into the nearby buildings."

He said the fire is being treated as suspicious and has been passed onto police to investigate.

It took firefighters almost half an hour to control the blaze, with three trucks coming from Nelson, two from Stoke and one from Richmond.