Pāpāmoa beach goers work together to control fire in sand dunes

Members of the public attempt to extinguish a fire at Pāpāmoa Beach. Photo / Supplied

A fire in the sand dunes at Pāpāmoa Beach has been extinguished with the help of concerned locals.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said they were notified of the fire, near Pacific View Rd, about 3.20pm.

"We received multiple calls, about nine or 10," he said.

One fire crew attended and extinguished what he described as a small fire. The cause of the fire was yet to be determined.

Lorraine Powell was on the beach and said a group of locals made sure the fire did not get out of control before the fire crew arrived.

"My friend spotted the fire so we wandered down towards it," she said.

"There was a group of people all working together to put it out by throwing sand on it and using their towels.

"It wasn't a huge fire but they definitely stopped it spreading before the fire crew arrived to finish the job."

She was not sure how the fire had started.

Another local resident Bill Dyck saw the drama unfold from his house.

"I was upstairs in my house and saw all this smoke," he said.

"There were a bunch of people on top of the dunes throwing sand on the fire and smothering it with towels. It was just amazing.

"I hate to think what would've happened if there weren't all those people at the beach, it might've spread to the houses. It was pretty close to taking off so I'm thankful they all acted so quickly."