Welcome Bay resident Shontelle Cockerill-Doerschel snapped a photo of the blaze from Waitaha Rd last night. She said it was "sort of like in a horror movie" but remained thankful no one was injured.
"My husband and I had heard fireworks a little while before we started hearing weird booms… so he went to check it out on our deck and saw what looked like the hill was on fire," she said.