Fire crews were called out to the Southland township of Waikaka after a co-joined flat went on fire this morning.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokeswoman said an occupant of one of the flats called emergency services about 8.45am.
A fire crew from Waikaka and a pump and tanker crew from Tapanui were initially called to the scene; however, when the Waikaka crew arrived and found the house well alight, more resources were requested and two pumps and a tanker were sent from the Gore station.
The occupants of both flats had evacuated the building prior to Fenz crews arriving, she said. She was unaware of how many people had been in the flats.
The fire was out by 10.10am but fire crews spent a bit more time ensuring the roof space was safe.
''They (Fenz) had a bit of concern because of it being co-joined they had to remove roofing iron etc to make sure it hadn't gone through the roof space and gone into the other one,'' she said.
They were not treating the fire as suspicious but Invercargill chief fire investigator Murray Milne-Maresca was investigating.
