Two patients have been treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a dementia unit in Levin.
Fire and Emergency said they were called to Millvale House Rest Home in the early hours of Sunday morning and discovered a fire in the eastern wing of the complex upon arrival.
Multiple rescues were carried out while firefighters tackled the blaze and two people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, Incident Commander Chris Kennedy said in a statement.
Brigades from Otaki, Waitarere, Shannon and Palmerston North were called in to help the Levin team.
Hato Hone St John, with the help of Local Taxi Company and Mobility Vans took 24 residents to Levin Fire Station where a welfare centre was established.
No residents required hospital care.
A worker at the nearby Mako Mako Rd Dairy told Newshub she couldn't smell or see any smoke when she got to work at just after 4am this morning.
"The fire happened at night time, so when I got to work all I could see was an ambulance, fire brigade and police," she said.
"There were lots of old people just sitting on the street, and some of them on the bench outside our dairy."
She said people left the scene just after 10am this morning.
A fire investigator is at the scene and looking into the cause of the fire.
