Fire severely damages service station workshop in Havelock North

About 20 firefighters were involved in a 40-minute fight to bring the blaze under control. Photo / Warren Buckland

About 20 firefighters were involved in a 40-minute fight to bring under control a blaze which gutted a workshop at a service station in Havelock North on Saturday.

By 12.45pm most crews had left the scene.

Fire and Emergency NZ communications centre shift manager Mike Wanoa said the call to the Mobil Havelock North station on Havelock Rd was received at 10.58am and the workshop was ablaze when the first crews arrived from the Havelock North Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The fire scene at a service state workshop in Havelock North today. Photo / Warren Buckland

It had initially been reported as a car fire but the two local crews were soon joined by two from Hastings and one from Napier, along with support services, as the alarm escalated, with worries for acetylene cylinders on the site.

At least one vehicle appeared to have been burnt in the fire.