Scrub fire closes school
Kaitaia Airport was closed and children sent home early from nearby schools as a strong wind pushed a scrub fire toward the runway. Children from Te Aniwaniwa Kohanga Reo and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rangi Aniwaniwa were bussed home early yesterday after fire broke out in scrub at the top of Quarry Road, near the eastern end of the airport runway.
About 20 firefighters from several Far North brigades attended the blaze that appeared to have started on farmland and bolted across the road. It was reported at 12pm, and although fire crews had the fire under control by 2.30pm, it took some time to extinguish it completely.
Neither the kohanga nor the kura were threatened, and the airport closure was precautionary only; no commercial flights were affected.
Meanwhile, a Kaeo fire crew was called to help at the scene of a two-car crash on the corner of State Highway 10 and Taupo Bay Rd at 12.20pm, in which two people were moderately injured.