He was alerted to the fire at 2.15am by his store management and was told to go home by Fire and Emergency NZ staff after 4am once the fire was out.

Looking at the aftermath, Mohammad said he believed it would take “at least” a few months to fix the store.

“The damage is between $80,000 to $100,000.”

“Everything was destroyed, only the drinks in the fridge were spared.”

Before he bought the store, it had been run by an elderly couple, he said.

“They were retiring, so they sold their business.”

He knew the dairy well before he bought it as he regularly walked past it during his university days and grabbed drinks on the way to his brother’s place on Berkeley Ave.

Mohammad said he used to work in supermarkets, but decided to do something different to further support his family.

He has since handed over the reins to managers who operate the day-to-day business of the store, and have updated and modernised the dairy.

Masters Ave Superette manager Jignesh Patel was made aware of the fire just after 2am by their security company.

He said the fire appeared to have started from the back of the building, destroying the upstairs stockroom while ripping a hole through the roof.

Twelve fire trucks from six different stations were in attendance at the fire’s peak, a spokesperson for Fire and Emergency NZ said.

The fire is under investigation.

Neighbouring Hillcrest Library is closed for the next few weeks, according to a social media post.

Damage to the library entrance is being repaired, but the building has been affected by smoke and water.

Returns will need to be made to one of the other libraries.

“We’re currently looking at the extent of the damage to the building and the collections,” the post reads

“We are also working on what this means for items on hold, while programmes will be either postponed, relocated or cancelled – we will provide more details about these as we know more.”

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.