Firefighters have got the large blaze at an industrial building in Tūrangi under control, following a four-hour battle.
A Fire and Emergency NZ spokeswoman said crews had been called to the large blaze on Atirau Rd about 9.55am.
Eight appliances, a command unit and other supporting vehicles had been sentto the scene from Tūrangi, Taupō, Rotorua, Whakapapa, Ohakune and as far as Greerton in Tauranga, she said.
By 1.30pm, she said crews had the blaze under control and were now in the final stages of mopping up.
The Turangi Fire Brigade said in a Facebook post there was a large structure fire in the industrial area of Turangi at present.
The shed had originally been built in the 60's by the Ministry of Works and Development, he said.
Smoke billows from the building. Photo / Zane Cozens
A police spokeswoman said officers were currently helping with traffic management and they were putting cordons in place around State Highway 41 and State Highway 1.
There was a diversion along Puataata Rd, she said.
A St John spokeswoman said one ambulance was at the scene on standby.
Taupo District Council senior customer officer Alex Good said a staff member was on scene monitoring the flow of water from the fire hoses going into the stormwater.
"No water is going into the storm water. If there is anything it's just coming straight from the fire trucks themselves"
"The water is under control and shoudn't be contaminating the drinking or stormwater," she said.
****URGENT UPDATE ****
Kia Ora
We have a large structure fire in the industrial area of Turangi at present. Please avoid Atirau Road road area as road blocks will be in place.
