‘No accident:’ Fire investigator believes Northland scrub blaze deliberately lit

Firefighters contained a 50 x 100 metre scrub fire in Whangārei overnight before it burnt itself out.

Emergency services are convinced that the bush fire in Northland was deliberately lit.

Around 9.30pm on Monday, a member of the public alerted firefighters about a “raging” fire on the Waimahanga Track in the Kioreroa Scenic Reserve, north Onerahi.

While the fire didn’t endanger the people residing at nearby properties or call for an evacuation, the flames caused widespread damage to the flora around the surrounding area.

Fire Investigator Craig Bain said investigations carried out this afternoon with the police had left no doubt in their minds that the fire was “no accident”.

“We believe the place of ignition was probably close to the track and amongst the pampas grass which is known to burn with quite significant heat release.

“We also noticed that some pampas that used to hang freely alongside the track had been cut and clumped up at a spot. So quite possibly it was used to set the fire as well.”

Bain said what made it worse was that the vegetation had little moisture, making it a fire risk.

“Despite having a wet year and all looking green on top, people have got to realise that the strong winds we are having are certainly assisting in the quick dry-up process,” Bain said.

Last night three fire trucks and two support vehicles were dispatched to the scene to contain the blaze.

Firefighters worked until midnight to put out the flames and returned to the area to extinguish any remnant embers.

Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.