A Wellington restaurant owner kept on working as her restaurant burned.

A woman had to be dragged from a burning Wellington restaurant on Wednesday - and it all left firefighters mystified.

Station officer Peter Burtonwood said fire crews arrived at the Loong Fong restaurant on Broadway, Miramar just after 1pm, with a man hosing down the restaurant roof.

Inside, however, amid thick smoke, they discovered a woman still stacking a cupboard.

Cameron Burnell/Fairfax NZ Emergency services outside the Loong Fong restaurant in Miramar, Wellington.

She was dragged from the shop and taken to hospital for observation.

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The affected restaurant is in Miramar, Wellington.

Burtonwood said the fire had started around lunchtime near a deep fryer in the Chinese restaurant and takeaway.

While there was a lot of smoke there were not many flames, he said.

It was not clear why the woman, apparently the owner, was still inside when crews arrived, but she needed to be dragged out.

She is believed to be fine.

Cars were diverted from the scene, at the airport end of the road.