Burning load dumped off highway

Motorists on State Highway One made several 111 calls after seeing a truck carrying burning hay bales just south of Whangarei.
Motorists waved down the single-trailer truck near Northland Helicopters at Otaika on Lookout Hill around midday on Saturday after noticing it driving with a burning load.
Whangarei Fire Station Officer Paul Ballantine said the driver turned the truck into farmland and dumped the burning hay on to grass. Two fire crews had taken around 90 minutes to put the flames out.
Mr Ballantine said it was possible the fire started from a hot exhaust pipe. The fire had damaged the truck's battery box and mudguards. Highway traffic had slowed while the fire was being put out and police were called. Mr Ballantine said it was fortunate the smoke was blown away from the road. About 80 of the 180 hay bales in the load were destroyed.
Meanwhile, a Kaikohe man was taken to hospital with burns and suffering smoke inhalation after leaving cooking unattended on a stove.
A passerby saw smoke coming from under the eaves of the Upper Broadway home around 5.30pm on Friday. The kitchen had caught alight with flames getting into the ceiling space. By the time the volunteer brigade arrived the fire had gone out, only ceiling tiles still smouldering.
Chief Fire Officer Bill Hutchinson said there had been a rash of kitchen fires over the past three months, forming a worrying pattern.