Large smoke plume from a 'controlled burn-off'

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A large and dense smoke plume visible to the northwest of the city yesterday afternoon was from a controlled burn-off.

Fire and Emergency NZ said it caused no problems.

“We had no calls about it,” a senior Gisborne firefighter said.

No further information was available to The Gisborne Herald this morning on either the location of the fire, or what was being burned.