Fire forces evacuation at Parnell apartment complex

An apartment complex in Parnell has been evacuated after a fire that damaged a kitchen.

Traffic is being diverted from the intersection of Parnell Rd and Augustus Terrace, and the intersection of Fox St, in the Auckland suburb.

Senior station officer Chris Lind said firefighters responded to a privately monitored alarm at the site.

"The first arriving officer noticed there was smoke in the apartment so we established a second alarm which is the equivalent to about six appliances and crews.

"We then forced entry and discovered a fire in the kitchen area," he said.

"As a result of the fire, the alarm system has done its job and given early detection and we were able to contain the incident to the kitchen area."

Lind said an apartment kitchen had about 50 per cent damage.

"It was mostly smoke and a little bit of fire damage and very little water damage," he said.

"Fortunately no one was home at the time and everyone responded well to the fire alarm in the rest of the building so the whole building was evacuated.

"They did a great job listening to the alarms and acknowledging that they should treat every alarm as if it was real," he said.

"We are working through ascertaining the cause of the fire and at the moment we have the occupants, and the building management on scene and we are liasing with them."