Three people were taken to Dunedin Hospital with minor injuries after a house fire in the Dunedin suburb of Ocean Grove last night.
A Fire Service spokesman said 111 calls about a large fire in the Tomahawk Rd house started coming in at 10.18pm.
By the time fire appliances from Dunedin and St Kilda stations arrived, the house was fully alight and had set fire to a neighbouring house.
Appliances from Rosyln, Lookout Point and Willowbank stations were called to assist.
The flames from the two-storey house where the fire began could be seen from Andersons Bay cemetery and many residents stood on the street watching as firefighters battled the inferno and police and ambulance officers assisted the victims.
One person on the street said the flames were ''massive'' and at one stage reached across the street.
The Fire Service spokesman said the fire in the second house was out fairly quickly. Firefighters had the fire in the first house under control by 11.20pm.
The injured people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, he said.
No further details of them was available last night. It is understood an upholstery business may have been run from the house.
The Fire Service spokesman said an investigation into what caused the fire would begin this morning.
Southern District Command Centre deployment co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Craig Brown said police attended largely to assist the victims and ensure the safety of those in surrounding houses.
The occupants of the second house that was damaged were uninjured, as were the neighbours on the other side of the two-storey house, whom police helped evacuate.
