In brief: Arrest near Kawakawa after shooting at Sofitel, Auckland

Northland District Health Board is appealing for patience from those who calling to make bookings for Covid vaccinations with a high volume of calls coming in.

Arrest after shooting at hotel

A 31-year-old Northland man was arrested south of Kawakawa on Saturday and is set to appear in the Whangārei District Court today.

The man is charged with being an accessory after the fact in relation to an ongoing police search for Head Hunters gang member Hone Reihana, who is alleged to have been involved with the shooting at the Sofitel Hotel in Auckland last month.

Northlander Olivia Brodie, who police said was travelling with Reihana, was arrested on Friday night after an incident involving Reihana in Northland. Police would not say what the incident was

Be patient, DHB says
The Northland District Health Board is appealing for patience from those who calling to make bookings for Covid vaccinations.

Northlanders calling 0800 237 829 and choosing option 1 to make a booking or re-schedule a booking are left frustrated at not being able to get through.

The booking team are taking calls from 9am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

A Northland DHB spokeswoman said people should be patient as its team had been experiencing a high volume of calls.

If people didn't get through initially, she said they should call again later.

Person assaulted in Raumanga
Police attended an assault on Raumanaga Valley Rd on Saturday night where a person had received moderate injuries.
Police were called out to the address just before 8pm, where they discovered an injured person, who was taken to hospital. Police said their inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault were ongoing.

Rubbish burn off goes wrong
A rubbish fire on Opuna Rd in Pouto resulted in a "fairly big" scrub fire on Saturday afternoon. A total of 12 firefighters, two appliances, and two tankers from both Dargaville and Te Kōpuru stations attended the blaze, which had lost control after winds picked up. Local firefighter Carl Horscroft called for people to be aware of weather conditions before lighting fires during the open season, especially in the evenings when winds were strengthening.

House almost burnt down from discarded ashes
A Mamaranui resident is lucky to still have her house standing following an incident on Saturday morning. The woman allegedly awoke early on Saturday morning to the smell of smoke after she left ashes from her fireplace in a cardboard box in the living room.
The box is said to have caught fire, which was luckily put out in time by the resident, before having a chance to spread.
Fire services were called later that morning and discovered the burnt box had left a hole in the floor of the house.

Unattended pot leads to house fire
Fire service personnel from Kawakawa and Paihia attended a call out on Sunday afternoon to a house fire on Pembroke Street in Moerewa. The fire is thought to have started after a pot was left unattended on a stove.
The occupants of the house were not home at the time the blaze began. Luckily, neighbours were able to get the fire under control, before emergency services arrived.