The fire, which forced the evacuation of hundreds from Auckland's Sky City, has been put out.
Assistant Area Fire commander David Woon said he was confident the "intense, sharp fire" was out.
The fire was found in some ducting and had travelled up to the first floor, he said.
"We've had to cut away some of the building to get to the ducting."
The cause of the fire was being investigated.
There was significant water and smoke damage, Woon said.
"I'm confident we've got things under control."
The nine-storey Federal House building was evacuated after the fire started in an extractor fan, a Sky City spokeswoman said.
A total of 12 fire crews were called to the fire.
The fire appeared to have started in the kitchen of the Depot restaurant, a Sky City employee said.
Several Twitter users posted photos from the scene.
There was smoke in the area, though this had largely dissipated.
A fire communications spokesman said the initial crew had put in a "second alarm", meaning they needed assistance and a total of six trucks had been assigned.
There appeared to be some kind of fire in the building's internal ducting system, but it was unclear exactly how bad it was.
"They obviously need some help, but they haven't told us what with yet."
Brett Zimmerman had just ordered lunch at Federal when the fire alarms went off.
"The waitress asked us if we could please leave the building."
Outside on the street he saw smoke billowing from the top of the building.
"It was quite thick and acrid."
Source: Stuff.co.nz
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