Car strikes woman
An elderly woman who was struck by a car in Kaitaia yesterday morning was taken to hospital for a precautionary X-ray. According to police the driver of the car was blinded by sunstrike as he turned from Commerce St into Empire St, his vehicle clipping the woman's heel as she crossed Empire St. She fell and "banged" one knee but was not badly hurt. The driver was not considered to be at fault.
Sleepout burnt, house saved
A sleepout has been destroyed after a rubbish fire spread at Ahipara but firefighters were able to stop the flames spreading to a nearby house. Ahipara fire chief Dave Ross said the occupier had partly demolished the Roma Rd structure and was burning some rubbish when the flames took hold of what was still standing. The brigade's major concern was that the fire would spread to a nearby house, which the crew prevented, with help from the Kaitaia brigade. "We only carry 1400 litres of water, which was gone in a nanosecond ... We really needed the water Kaitaia had brought with them," Ross said.
Blood-test results awaited