Blaze at golf course

FILE

It was recipe for disaster - but fire crews managed to stop a shed filled with hazardous substances from exploding on a Taupo golf course overnight.

Fire crews from Taupo and Rotorua, along with a hazardous materials response unit, were called to the Centennial Golf Course in Taupo at 12.30am today, where a petrol and diesel bowser was set alight.

The bowser was just metres away from the ground keeper's shed which contained hazardous substances.

The outside of shed had reportedly caught fire, but the substances did not explode inside.

Rotorua Fire Service senior station officer Jim Prescott said it was lucky the substances did not catch fire.

"When the shed was opened up the crew was quite surprised to see the containers hadn't burst. Luckily nothing inside burst, it could have been much worse." he said.

Mr Prescott said the fire was being treated as suspicious.

Fire crews returned to the Rotorua station about 4am, he said.