Thick smoke could be seen billowing from a house in Tauranga this afternoon.

A SunLive reader emailed photos of smoke coming from a home in Oriana Crescent around 2.30pm.

The reader says it looked like a barbecue or something on an upstairs balcony had caught fire.

"The fire is well under control now. Nobody appeared to be at home."

Firefighters were called to the scene and are investigating the cause of the fire.