A fire that broke out in an apartment building in Auckland's Newmarket yesterday is being treated as suspicious.
Police said they are working with Fire and Emergency NZ to investigate the blaze.
Residents of the apartment building were allowed to return home late last night after being evacuated in the afternoon.
Firefighters had to install structural support before the eight-storey Newmarket building, which also included shops, was deemed safe.
The blaze started in the basement of the building, causing residents and shop workers to evacuate, while Newmarket train station was forced to close for a few hours. It later reopened.
Yesterday FENZ commander Dave Woon told 1News "evacuation has been yet another problem for us".
"We can deal with a fire reasonably quickly and easily, especially when it's easily accessible like this, but confirming people aren't inside the building is very difficult.
"So if there's a message I'd like to get out there, it's if you're in a building like this, make sure you're known to be out of the building."
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