Christchurch building on fire, smoke billows towards city, ‘explosions’ heard

A building fire in Christchurch has pulled in a heavy emergency service response, Fire and Emergency says.

Several firetrucks are at the scene of a commercial building burning on Waterloo Rd, Hornby after multiple calls came in around 7.15am to report the smoke.

The plume of smoke coming from the building blaze is drifting towards the city, shift manager Simon Lyford says.

Two firetrucks from Ilam and Wigram initially responded to the fire, but the magnitude of the blaze pulled in two more units from the central city and Spreydon.

An aerial truck is also at the scene of the “well-involved” incident.

Smoke rises over Christchurch after a fire at a commercial premises in Hornby. Photo / Supplied

While it’s unclear whether the smoke has any risk of toxins, Lyford has urged Christchurch residents to shut their windows if they smell smoke in their house.

“Especially after the nice hot day, if people smell smoke, they should close their doors and windows to stop the smoke from getting inside.”

Bonnie, a Hornby local, lives across the road from the blaze and noticed “wafts” of black smoke rising from a building near her house.

Multiple firetrucks are at the scene of a commercial building fire on Waterloo Rd in Hornby.

She jumped in the car and made her way around the corner to find police had blocked the road off.

“You could hear explosions coming from the fire, like large booms,” she said.

According to Bonnie, locals had already made their way down to Waterloo Rd to investigate the matter, but were being turned around by police.