Firefighters contain the fire at Poraiti Hill. Photo / Ian Cooper
Firefighters contain the fire at Poraiti Hill. Photo / Ian Cooper
A 100 metre by 100 metre fire travelling upward threatened a property at Poraiti Hill, but both the property and the owners are safe.
Emergency services were alerted to the vegetation fire at 10.25am on Sunday.
The cause of the fire was likely to be powerlines arcing, said Fire andEmergency New Zealand Hawke's Bay district manager Ken Cooper.
Cooper said six trucks from Napier, Hastings, Taradale, and Bay View, as well as two tankers attended the fire and it was extinguished in a little over an hour, but they were hot spotting the area.
Firefighters checking for hotspots. Photo / Ian Cooper
He said while the fire, above Prebensen Drive, was "relatively small" it tracked upwards towards a property which the owners were willing to evacuate, if necessary.
He said the region was under a restricted fire season which meant a fire permit was required for all fires in unapproved fire places and incinerators (excluding cultural and cooking fires).
"We are asking people to use their common sense, and check the 'Check it's Alright Before You Light' website.
"We are at high danger level of fires spreading, so if you don't have to light a fire, don't."
An onlooker took a picture of the fire racing up Poraiti Hill. Photo / Adam Gregory
Fire and emergency services were also called to four other fires in Hawke's Bay over the weekend.
A fence on fire at Camberley at 2.17pm on Saturday was extinguished "quickly" said a spokesman.
But a bonfire at Tomoana took at 5.42pm took nearly two hours to contain and extinguish, but the time was down to the distance as opposed to the severity.
On Sunday, they were also alerted to a rubbish fire in Havelock North and a house fire in Waipawa which had already been extinguished by the occupants, he said.
