Crews battle early morning blaze at derelict Dunedin hospital

Firefighters have suppressed a blaze at the former Glamis Private Hospital in Dunedin this morning.

Crews were called to the abandoned hospital building in Mornington about 1am, Dunedin Senior Station Officer Simon Smith said on site.

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He said there had been previous fires at the building so crews were "reasonably familiar" with it.

Seven appliances and support vehicles, including an aerial appliance, were used as about 30 firefighters battled the blaze.

"They've done a really good job of keeping it to the building and we've been able to put our aerial appliance to good use to stop the fire spreading outside the building," Snr Officer Smith said.

He said they were waiting for the Dunedin City Council to come down to discuss the next steps in extinguishing the last of the fire.

"There's still a couple of parts we're trying to get to. They're proving difficult."

Firefighters were unable to battle the blaze from inside the building, as it was very unstable and dangerous because of the state of the building and previous fires.

The former hospital building has been abandoned since 2011, although has become a magnet for vandals, illegal dumping and rats.

- Allied Media