Mechanical work blamed for Wellington high-rise fire

The fire spewed black smoke into the sky above the capital. Photo / Michael Gibb

Mechanical work is being blamed for setting a Wellington high rise on fire this morning.

Black plumes of smoke could be seen billowing across the city after fire broke out in the equipment house on top of the Willeston Centre just before 9am.

The 14-storey building was evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off while crews fought the fire.

Senior station officer Simon Johnson said had the fire been on a lower floor it would have been bigger and received a larger response.

"Being on the top floor we contained it fairly quickly and it hasn't spread from there. It's a small scale fire."

He said it was on a high rise building in the middle of Wellington though, making it look impressive.

The building is part-owned by the Wellington Company and director Ian Cassels said the fire was the result of mechanical work being done of the building with a gas axe.

"There's always that danger when you're doing that I guess, so it's not entirely out of the blue.

"Nobody was injured in the fire, but one person on crutches had to be rescued from one of the upper levels.