A fire which destroyed part of a grain processing plant in Gisborne this evening is being treated as "suspicious".
Seven fire trucks were called to the "well-involved" blaze at a three-storey plant in Elgin around 7.01pm, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson told 1News.
The plant, which employs 11 workers, processes grain for products such as cereal and animal feed.
1News understands the milling section of the granary has been destroyed.
The fire has since been contained.
Witness Catherine Rogers told 1News she "noticed a big plume of smoke" coming from the grain silos from her home across the road.
"It was a huge amount of smoke," she said.
"You could see flames and you could hear popping and things falling and crashing inside the building."
Rogers said they called the fire department, after which she and her family were evacuated for around 30 to 45 minutes so "if there was any smoke or anything, that we weren’t going to get caught up in it".
Fire and Emergency senior station officer Jason Higgins told 1News the fire is currently being "treated as a crime scene".
"Could be suspicious so we’ll have the fire investigator on the scene tomorrow morning," he said.
Higgins said there is "no obvious cause" behind the fire at this stage.
The fire is the latest blow to the region, after it was hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle.
"It’s so hard with the crops that are decimated and trying to get in and out of Gisborne at the moment. This is just the last thing that we need," Rogers said.
Police will have a scene guard at the location overnight.
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