Fire and Emergency New Zealand were this afternoon called to a building fire on Auckland's Dominion Rd in Mt Eden that disrupted travel through the area for a time.
FENZ said the fire broke out in a three storey building but was "contained to the basement level".
Eight appliances attended the scene from Balmoral, Auckland City, Grey Lynn, Mount Roskill and Remuera.
A shopper in the area, who wished to remain anonymous, told 1News they first noticed the smell of the fire "like that of fireworks".
"It wasn't until we walked out of the op shop we discovered a fire had started a few stores down."
They said the road was then blocked off between the Valley Rd and Dominion Rd intersection up to Onslow Rd. Buses in the area were also backed up, they said.
Later, the bystander said others commented on the smell, which they described as "burning plastic and very chemical-like".
Earlier, Auckland Transport said several buses would not stop in the area. A later statement said this was "now resolved" and buses would "resume their normal route".
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