Children seen fleeing Rawene fire

Flames reached within less than a metre of the fence at this house in Manning Street. PHOTO / KATHIE BROCKLISS

Children are the prime suspects for a fire that threatened homes in Rawene on Friday.

A resident said some local children had built a hut in pampas grass, the first sign of trouble being a cloud of smoke, followed by children between the ages of 4 and 12 "zooming" up the hill.

The first concern was to ensure no children were in danger, followed by fighting the blaze.

First to respond, a little after 4pm, was the Rawene Fire Brigade. The fire was escalating rapidly and already endangering homes in Manning Street. Property owners were quick to join the firefighters, while appliances from all over the Mid North responded to the brigade's call for reinforcements. Eventually more than 60 personnel were there.

Resident Patrick Mendes said people had "just jumped in to help." The blaze had been moving very quickly, and he could not thank the fire brigade enough.

"They did an awesome job," he said.

His wife Cinthia Mendes described the fire as "just immense" and there had been no choice but to help.

The Helensville couple had moved a relocatable house on to the section as a holiday home, the flames reaching to within less than a metre of it.

Neighbour Kaye Nairn said she stayed up all night, sending her baby to friends because of the toxic smoke.

It had been a "scary, really scary" night. She had believed she was going to lose her home, and thanked the firefighters profusely for saving it and others.

"I didn't sleep all night," she added. "Everything happened so fast."

She had helped drag hoses to the fire.

"These guys were exhausted, and if I could say anything it would be that we need more volunteers, but I'm proud of myself and other residents for mucking in and helping the brigade and saving our houses," she said.

The blaze was being fought on a 200m front by the time it was brought under control, the Rawene brigade responding to three more calls overnight to deal with flare-ups in pampas, elephant grass and other weeds.