Health Ministry’s Wellington HQ evacuated after fire

Fire and Emergency are responding to reports of smoke at the MOH headquarters in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Ministry of Health’s headquarters in Wellington was evacuated after an electrical fire earlier today.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed said it was called at 11.18am with reports of smoke in the Thorndon building.

Six fire engines were called in, a FENZ spokesperson said.

The callout came after staff noticed smoke in the top floor of the building, with a boiler or wiring thought to be the cause.

Around 300 staff were evacuated and there were no injuries reported.

Staff were cleared to go back into the building around 12.20pm.

Chief fire warden Andrew Forsyth earlier told the Herald that “we heard an alarm and all we saw was smoke on the roof of the building”.

“The building was cleared within six minutes- the fire service was already here by the time we had completed the evacuation.”

The evacuation was made easier as many staff were at lunch or work from home on Fridays and the office was only 20 to 30 per cent full, he said.