Ranfurly blaze not suspicious

A fire which destroyed a garage in the Maniototo town of Ranfurly early this morning was not suspicious, the Fire Service says.

Fire crews from Ranfurly, 140km northwest of Dunedin, Naseby and Omakau were at the main street blaze, Ranfurly chief fire officer James Hazlett said.

A flat above the garage, where the garage's owners lived, and a sandwich shop were damaged.

Two main streets were blocked off as about 25 firefighters continued to dampen down hot spots this morning, with fire crews leaving about 3.30pm.

Mr Hazlett said the garage was well ablaze when the firefighters arrived, after the alarm was raised by the local butcher about 5am.

It took more than two hours to bring the fire under control and the building was pretty much destroyed.

While the fire was not suspicious, its cause was not yet known, Mr Hazlett said.