Police now believe a major fire that ripped through central Greymouth was deliberately lit.
The early morning blaze has upset many, impacting five separate businesses and completely destroying one of the few restaurants in the small town.
The Fire Service was called at 4am, but a large commercial building was already doomed.
"We discovered it was totally involved in fire at the height of the fire - we had over 65 firefighters on scene with nine appliances," Chief fire officer Lee Swinburn said.
Fire trucks and personnel had come from all over the coast and as far as Christchurch to get the fire under control. But it was a hard fight, and five businesses in the building including a law firm and an electrical firm now can't open their doors on Monday.
Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn is offering all the support he can.
"We'll try to get to the bottom of this, and help these business owners out as best we can over the next few days - but it's certainly a big hit to those businesses," he said.
The fires believed to have been lit in the Indian restaurant - its owner of 16 years said he's devastated, as his restaurant is now completely destroyed.
Mr Kokshoorn says now they are down an Indian takeaways.
"This was a very popular Indian takeaway in town here - everyone loved it. We'd like to get some normalcy back as soon as we can but looking behind us, it's going to be difficult," he said.
Residents agree, saying it's a real shame the restaurant is gone.
"We'll miss the place... it's a bit sad, sad for the people that own it as well and the people they employ," local Alan Hodgson said.
A couple who works in a charity shop up the road say even their stock is affected by the smoke.
"We're here to try and air it out and decide whether we might have a smoke clearance," says retailer Penny Hodgson.
Fire investigators and police have been on the scene all day, and now believe the fire was deliberately lit.
The mayor says it's shocking for the business owners and those who risked their lives to fight it.
Police want to hear from anyone who was in the Tanui St area between 3:30am and 4:15am on Sunday who might have seen something suspicious.
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