Emergency services are investigating a large blaze that engulfed a building near a controversial development on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula, sending smoke billowing across the harbour on Wednesday morning.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) said crews had mostly extinguished the blaze and were dampening down the site.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze just before 3am, with the Sawtooth Building going up in flames near Shelly Bay.
The blaze was "well involved" when crews arrived at the scene, FENZ told Newshub.
FENZ battled the blaze with four pumping appliances, two aerial appliances and a tanker, which sent a large orange glow across the harbour.
Nearby residents were told to keep doors and windows closed due to concerns about asbestos.
Footage from the scene shows only charred beams left of the warehouse.
Reporter Harry Bartle told Newshub at 11:30 the blaze was "significant" and caused smoke to billow into the air.
"I even saw it myself on the way into work this morning at about 4am and at the time, the smoke was billowing into the air at about 50m high. The building that was engulfed was known to have asbestos," he said.
Wellington Harbourmaster placed an exclusion zone on the area while it was assessed for asbestos risk.
"We're just asking boaties to keep clear of the Shelly Bay area while they're still continuing to dampen down and assessments are made on air quality," Grant Nalder told RNZ.
FENZ has yet to confirm how the fire started.
Police said Shelly Bay Road is closed due to a fire and the public is urged to avoid the area.
"Police and Fire and Emergency NZ will be investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire," police said.
Work was underway at the site of the Shelly Bay development, which had been disputed by locals.
Bartle said there have been no reports of any injuries because of the blaze.
He said it was a large warehouse building that caught fire.
"I've been told that it was a large warehouse building that caught fire, which isn't surprising because Shelly Bay is dotted with lots of larger wooden buildings that have been left abandoned and left to rot over the last few years," he said.
"However, the area has been the location for a new development, a controversial new development, because the land on Shelly Bay has been disputed between local Māori and the developers. However, construction had just recently begun on that new development and it will likely be halted because of this blaze."
