Fire fighters fought for close to an hour to contain a storeroom fire next to the Elma Turner Library on Nelson’s Halifax St.
The cause of the fire was unknown but it required six crews from Nelson, Stoke, Richmond and Wakefield to help contain the blaze which was fuelled by items in the store room in the Nelson City Council-owned Mediterranean Foods building.
Thick black smoke was seen pouring from the building and a fire fighter at the scene said it was difficult to navigate as they couldn’t see through the smoke.
Senior station officer Richard Lovering says the fire was in a void between the downstairs storeroom and the upstairs area. “That made it quite difficult to access the fire and to find it to put out.”
The store room was right next door to Prego Food Warehouse but is not thought to have spread to it.
NCC says the Elma Turner Library will remain closed for the rest of Wednesday following the fire and there has been extensive smoke through the library.
Nelson police cordoned off Halifax St for more than an hour from 11.30am.
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