City apartment block evacuated after fire

An inner city Auckland apartment block was evacuated after a fire was reported on the 3rd floor. Photo / file

An inner city Auckland high-rise had to be evacuated early this morning due to a fire in an apartment.

Sixteen fire trucks were called to the 12 storey Fiore Apartments on Hobson St at 1.44am after receiving numerous calls about a fire on the third floor, northern fire communications shift manager Colin Underdown said.

The building was evacuated until the blaze was dampened down using the building's internal hoses.

Everyone was accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.

Meanwhile, fire destroyed a large homestead in rural Canterbury this morning.

Crews from several stations attended the blaze on Oxford Rd, Cust, about 40km north west of Christchurch.

It was already well alight when they arrived at about 1.14am, southern fire communications shift manager Colin Norris said.

It took four hours to completely extinguish the blaze, which had gutted the building.

A fire safety officer will investigate the cause.