A blaze at a restaurant in a West Auckland shopping mall has now been extinguished.
Firefighters rushed to LynnMall just after 7pm tonight after a fire was reported.
The roof of the Goode Brothers restaurant, in the Brickworks part of the mall that houses restaurants and a movie theatre, was believed to have been alight.
Gloria Liu, a staff member at Hansan restaurant in the Brickworks, said the nearby Goode Brothers restaurant had been on fire, but the blaze had now been extinguished.
Customers were still outside the restaurant after the fire had been put out, waiting for firefighters to give the all clear, she said.
Northern fire communications shift manager Megan Ruru said seven fire engines had been dispatched to Lynn Mall.
A roof of a restaurant in the mall had caught fire but the blaze was now under control and crews were investigating how the fire started, she said.
A witness said there was thick black smoke coming from the mall.
Gary Chapman said there were two or three fire engines at the scene.
He described the smoke as being "heavy, thick, dense and black" and said it appeared very quickly, but had since dissipated.
Mihana Jolliffe, who was working at Pita Pit nearby, said he had heard sirens going past the shop, but couldn't see any smoke.
Across the street from the mall at Nandos staff member Jarry, who did not want his last name published, said he could see multiple fire engines parked at the mall, but also couldn't see smoke.
Video / Hayden D'Silva