Fire investigators are at the scene of a blaze inside a Work and Income building in Auckland on Thursday.
Crews were called to the fire on Mayfair Place in the suburb of Glen Innes at about 7am.
At its height around 50 firefighters and extra support vehicles were battling the blaze.
Fire crews were called to a blaze at a Work and Income New Zealand building in Glen Innes on Thursday. Photo: Supplied
The blaze sent smoke billowing into the sky over Glen Innes this morning.
Footage seen by RNZ shows smoke pouring out from the Work and Income building, as it burnt from the inside.
The smell of smoke lingered in the air long after the clouds of smoke had dispersed.
Incident controller Shane Munro said eight crews were on site, checking for hotspots.
It's urging residents to keep windows and doors shut to avoid smoke.
A worker at a dairy opposite the building said it was spewing smoke when he arrived at work.
He said the shop had no indication when it would be able to open up for the day.
The smoke smelt very bad, he said.
Daniel Salazar was in the area this morning and spotted a "quite big" fire.
"I was driving down to the town centre and saw smoke billowing from the town centre, then I got close and saw it was the office of the Ministry of Social Development."
He said he stopped for about five minutes to have a look but had to get to work.
He described the fire as "quite big", saying "the place was covered in smoke".
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Development said no clients or staff were on site during the fire.
A firefighter at the scene. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Regional director Auckland Central and East Sharlene Horne said they were alerted that morning.
"Thankfully there were no clients at the site, and our staff are safe," she said.
"We will be getting in touch with clients who were due to come in and see us."
Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
