A fire that engulfed scaffolding covering a high-rise construction site in the heart of Sydney has been extinguished, after dramatic scenes of flames and smoke shooting up the building.
The fire started at the northern end of the Macquarie Street building, near Hyde Park, about 7.50am on Thursday, with fire crews racing to the site and closing the street.
The blaze, which forced the evacuation of about 20 people, involved external scaffolding on the building and not cladding, Fire & Rescue NSW confirmed in a tweet.
Rows of fire trucks and police vehicles lined the street in the legal precinct, as the fire brought part of the CBD to a standstill.
City workers observing the event unfold have described the dramatic scenes and the speed at which the flames covered the building.
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"The flames were going up the scaffolding. I think there was straw in scaffolding to catch dust which just went up in flames," Patrick Toohey, who works in a nearby building told AAP.
"You could see balls of hay catching on fire - it was a bit like Grenfell tower going up," he said, referencing the London tragedy.
Footage from the Nine Network showed flames quickly rising up the 11-storey building, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky.
Thirteen fire crews and 70 firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze which was extinguished about 9am.
"It (the fire) hasn't penetrated the internal structure," a Fire & Rescue spokesman told AAP.
The building is thought to be an older and well-established building that was undergoing a renovation, a Fire & Rescue spokesman told ABC.
NSW Police said there have been no reported injuries.
Macquarie Street between Prince Alfred Road and Hunter Street remains closed as a salvage operation is underway.
