Kids evacuated from childcare centre blaze

M Blackman

UP IN FLAMES: The ABC Learning Centre in Kaikohe was gutted by fire.

A childcare centre in Northland has been gutted by fire this morning.

The Fire Service found the ABC Learning Centre in Kaikohe engulfed in flames when they arrived at the scene about 9am.

Thirteen children and eight adults reported to have been in the building before the fire broke out were evacuated and all accounted for, the Fire Service's north shift manager Tony McDonald said.

There was no indication as to what caused the fire, McDonald said.

A neighbour called the Fire Service just before 9am, telling them that the early childhood centre next door was engulfed in flames. Then the calls kept pouring in, McDonald said.

Crews from KeriKeri, Kaikohe and Okaihau attended and at least one truck remains at the scene on the corner of Hillcrest and Park roads.

The single storey, 20-by-eight-metre building was extensively damaged by the blaze, McDonald said.

- © Fairfax NZ News