A fire has broken out in a central Auckland building, closing Queen St in both directions. Queen St is closed in both directions between Mayoral Dr and Karangahape Rd, causing "traffic chaos". Taxi driver Vinay Kumar was parked at the rank in Turner St and phoned 111 when he saw smoke coming from the building. "I went close to observe and saw flames inside from the window. The thick smoke forced Kumar to move his car further from the scene to be safe.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 19, 2017 19:30 UTC