An electrical fire in the ceiling at Good Local in Pyes Pa Tauranga has closed the business until further notice, the owner says.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said that when fire services arrived at 3.29am today the fire in the kitchen was “well-involved”.
The fire was extinguished and no one was involved or injured.
Greerton, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui fire services responded to the blaze and a fire investigator has been brought in.
Mark Lawrence, who owned the business with wife Mel, said a spark in a fan in one of the ceiling’s fresh air ventilation systems caused the fire.
“It overheated during the early hours in the morning, which caused a fire to spread through the ceiling and damage the lighting and electrical work,” he said.
“We were really stoked by how fast the fire brigade got here because it could have been a hell of a lot worse,” Lawrence said.
He said firefighters arrived in five minutes and smashed the side door for entry because they could see fire and smoke.
Lawrence estimated the business would reopen in three weeks.
Community support was “overwhelming” as he received about 50 requests for help after posting on social media.
“I had to stop reading when I started to get a little tear in my eye from reading beautiful comments from customers that we’ve been serving for the last seven years.”
Good Local regular Rosie McGovern told the Bay of Plenty Times: “I was sad to hear the news as it’s a very welcoming and friendly restaurant with delicious food.”
She said the owners were “hardworking, awesome people and it sucks to see them take a blow like this”.
“They will have a loyal, supportive crowd to welcome them back when they reopen.”
Harriet Laughton is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.
A family member says the search is concentrated on the area the light was spotted.