A possum that decided to do a late-night climb of a power installation off Puketitiri Rd on Saturday night ended up sparking a grass fire, as well as numerous calls to the Napier Fire Service.
A fire service spokesman said the calls started coming in around 10.45pm last night from residents across a wide area, including the Parklands estate at Tamatea.
"It was quite a glow in the sky," one man told Hawke's Bay Today. "It was because it was on the top of a ridge so a lot of people could see it," the spokesman said.
Crews were at the scene for about 45 minutes and quickly had the fire under control, so there was no threat to any properties. The spokesman said it appeared a possum had climbed on to high-tension lines which set it alight and caused it to fall on to the grass below.
While the landscape appeared quite green it was "dry underneath" he said.