Fire truck stuck for over two hours after putting out Awatoto beach fire

Firefighters were called to a small driftwood and rubbish fire on Awatoto beach about 3.56am on Monday. Photo / NZME

Hawke's Bay firefighters are pleading with the public to stop lighting fires on beaches after a Napier fire crew spent more than two hours stuck on Awatoto beach.

Firefighters were called to a "small" driftwood and rubbish fire on the beach, along State Highway 51, about 3.56am on Monday.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said one fire truck and one water tanker attended the scene and quickly dealt with the fire.

However, one of the fire appliances got stuck while attempting the leave the beach and remained on scene for two hours and 17 minutes.

Hawke's Bay Fire and Emergency NZ assistant area manager Nigel Hall said the truck that attended the scene was not a four-wheel drive capacity appliance.

"We try not to take appliances off hard standing," he said. "They shouldn't really have gone off the hard standing, but I can only assume the distances involved were too great for hose length and had no choice."

Hall said with only eight people on duty at one time in Napier and Hastings, these types of incidents take firefighters away from more important call-outs.

"It ties up a life-saving appliance," he said. "Most of them are people sitting around a fire, having a beer and cooking a sausage.

"The trouble is that people think they'd put them out and leave. But fires stay hot for a long time and it only takes a bit of wind and they flare up again."

He urged the public to respect the ban on fires at beaches, parks and reserves all year round.

"The ban on fires on beaches exists for this exact reason – as it's very hard for firefighters to get to them," he said. "But unfortunately, they are more common than we'd like."