"Suspicious" boardwalk fire

The stench of smoke still hung in the air today around the patch of scrub on the Daisy Hardwick walkway that caught fire last night.

Tauranga fire fighters were called to reports of smoke seen near the end of Te Kaponga St, off Judea Rd, at 10.15pm on Friday night and were there for over an hour while they got the flames under control.

Senior Station Officer Len Sabin said the fire began in the undergrowth surrounding the boardwalk and the cause was "obviously suspicious".

"There was no heat source around or electrical reason."

Mr Sabin suspected it may have been either an accident such as someone throwing in a cigarette butt, or purposeful arson.