Patients turned away after medical building devastated in fire

Police are investigating after a fire tore through the Australian Medical Association's local headquarters in North Adelaide.

Fire crews were alerted to the Ward Street blaze at 2am today.

Garbage bins in a carpark below had been set alight, with the flames spreading to an air-conditioning vent and moving upstairs.

The blaze caused up to $2 million worth of damage.

"The first floor, particularly the area where the dermatologists are, has been completely gutted," Chris Moy from the AMA said.

As well as the AMA, the building is home to a number of medical clinics and organisations, which were forced today to turn patients away.