Big scrub fire along East Coast’s State Highway 35

It took firefighters four hours on Saturday to put out a large grass and scrub fire alongside SH35 north of Tolaga Bay. The cause has yet to be established.

Firefighters were busy for more than four hours on Saturday afternoon dealing with a major grass and scrub fire alongside State Highway 35 north of Tolaga Bay.

It happened near Hikuwai and Fire and Emergency New Zealand was alerted at about 2pm.

A helicopter with a monsoon bucket helped crews from several fire appliances.

Tolaga Bay fire chief Andrew Shelton said crews from Tolaga Bay, Te Puia, Eastland Rural Fire and a command unit from Gisborne Fire and Emergency attended.

A helicopter with a monsoon bucket was also deployed.

Shelton said the fire spread to involve between one and 1.5 hectares of scrub and grass, “and it took a bit of putting out. We were there until about 6.30pm”.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“We think it may have been caused by power lines arcing.”