Fire sprinklers save Tauranga city building

A small fire on the top floor of a central city building resulted in about 50 people being evacuated. Photo / George Novak

A fire in a central city building that caused about 50 people to be evacuated could have easily spread if it were not for a sprinkler system, a fire chief says.

Telecommunications equipment caught fire on the top floor of a three level building on the corner of Spring St and Grey St about 4.45pm yesterday.

The building houses retail stores on the street front and inside the Spring St Arcade and a gym on the first floor.

The second floor, where the fire started, was unoccupied.

Tauranga Fire Brigade senior station officer Len Sabin said about 50 people were evacuated from the building and it was thanks to the sprinkler system that the fire was contained.

The fire was out when the fire brigade arrived and the crews spent about two hours cleaning up the flood caused by the sprinklers.

Mr Sabin said it was not until the crews were investigating what set alarms off that they realised there had been a fire.

"Nobody on site was aware there had been a fire as the top floor was unoccupied.

"We don't know what actually caused the fire but it definitely originated in some telecommunications equipment.

The fire damage was limited to the room and there was some superficial smoke damage. There was about 150 sq m of water damage."

Mr Sabin said it was pleasing to see a working sprinkler system, but it was a shame the fire alarm was so far from the origins of the fire as the crews could have arrived sooner.