A huge fire in Dunedin's wharf district last night sent flames leaping 50m into the air and a plume of black smoke drifting down Otago Harbour.
The fire destroyed the Bodyline Collision Panel and Paint building in Wharf St.
Fire brigades were alerted at 8.57pm, and firefighters could see flames ''fully engulfing'' the building before they arrived, Dunedin City Station Senior Station Officer Mark Leonard said from the scene.
Seven appliances and more than 44 firefighters converged from across Dunedin. They were met with explosions from inside the burning building.
They were caused by pressurised paint, paint thinner and lpg canisters inside the warehouse, Mr Leonard said.
The sheer force of those ''very, very dangerous'' explosions, and the toxic gas coming from them, meant it was considered too dangerous for firefighters to enter the warehouse, he said.
Firefighters would not enter ''until we've made sure everything is safe'', he said.
Bodyline Collision Panel and Paint owner Sean Blair reached the scene minutes behind the fire crews.
''I'm absolutely, just absolutely gutted,'' he said.
''I spent 10 years building that business up.''
He said he could say no more as, visibly upset, he ran across to his colleagues.
''I've got to go see my guys.''
Fire crews ran to attach hoses to hydrants and sent multiple streams of water through the building's blasted-out windows, burnt-out walls and collapsed roof.
A hydraulically elevated platform towered above the burning structure, from which a stream of water was sent through the collapsed roof.
Embers mixed with the thick smoke and began falling on the road beside neighbouring buildings, as fire crews scrambled to ensure no other buildings were damaged.
Fire crews battled to save two cars parked in front of the burning building, hosing them and a neighbouring stretch of wall with constant streams of water.
All roads around the building, from the Jetty St overbridge to Strathallan St, were closed, although a crowd of nearly 100 bystanders had gathered by 10pm.
Fire crews had brought the fire down to ''a manageable level'' within about 20 minutes, Mr Leonard said, although by 11pm there were still small pockets of flames inside the building.
The fire was ''involved end to end'' when firefighters arrived, Mr Leonard said, and they had no idea last night what caused it, or where in the building it began.
The neighbouring building, housing Fairview Windows and Doors and Ellisons Aluminium, sustained smoke and water damage, but was saved from fire damage after firefighters put a protective curtain between the buildings.
No other buildings were damaged. All people were accounted for.
Firefighters remained at the scene early today.
Fire investigators would be on site today.
Rob Donaldson said he saw the fire from Portsmouth Dr at 8.55pm, and rushed to the scene.
''The sky was lit up with flames - they were leaping out. When I got down here she was just an inferno.
''The heat - you could feel it over the other side of the road, and you could hear the cylinders inside just going boom, boom, boom.''
An ex-rural fire officer who did not wish to be named said he saw the flames from Wakari.
He said he could recall seeing only one other fire of that intensity in Dunedin, nearly 50 years ago.
