Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) have extinguished a large fire at an abandoned building in Wellington overnight.
Crews were called to the former Wellington Boys' Institute on Tasman Street in Newtown at around 12:30am on Monday.
The building, which was abandoned in 2008, once contained a boarding home, pool facility and gymnasium.
FENZ described the blaze as "well alight," with most efforts to put out the fire done externally due to the condition of the building.
Five fire trucks and two aerial appliances were used to fight the blaze, which specialist investigators and police will be investigating today.
Smoke was seen billowing across the suburb in the early hours of the morning.
While crews focused on external firefighting, a search inside also took place.
"There were some concerns early on about squatters inside, but this has proven not to be the case," a FENZ spokesperson said.
Residents in the area told Newshub squatters have been occupying the building over the past few weeks.
A few gentlemen, claiming to be from the Chinese Embassy, told Newshub they own the heritage building.
However, upon further questioning, they left the scene.
There are no reports of any road closures as a result of the fire.
The institute was founded in 1883 and was associated with St John's Church.
It was designed to benefit young people in the community and took three decades to be built.
