An 8-year-old girl whose legs were trapped in a truck crash on State Highway 5 while a scrub fire burst to life nearby is now recovering in the Hawke's Bay Hospital in a stable condition.
Three children and one adult were injured in a truck crash just before midnight on Tuesday after the vehicle left the Napier-Taupo Rd, slamming into a power pole and causing a large scrub fire.
Passing motorists and truckies heroically pulled the driver, a grandfather, and two young school-age children from the mangled truck before the injured man then desperately tried to free his young granddaughter whose legs were trapped by a toppled power pole.
Downed lines sparked a large scrub fire, which fanned to life just metres from the wreckage, that quickly spread to a 100m fire front and burned out of control along the highway hillside throughout the night.
By the time emergency services arrived at the remote stretch of central North Island highway the young girl was still pinned inside, her legs wedged tightly beneath the dash as flames flickered 5m from the frozen meat truck.