Brush fire races close to homes

Firefighters from all over the Far North turned out to battle the Pungaere blaze. Picture / Dean Purcell

Fire raged through more than 100ha of farmland, threatening homes and livestock near Kerikeri in the second major blaze in Northland yesterday.

The combination of dry conditions and strong winds around the country prompted the National Rural Fire Authority to urge people to take extreme care lighting fires.

And last night Whangarei police hunting an arsonist they say is behind several fires in the city urged the public to use cellphones and digital cameras to film crowds who gather at suspicious blazes.

Inspector Paul Dimery commended the idea from a resident at a public meeting to film people watching the fires, saying it might help police identify the perpetrator. Kevin Ihaka, principal rural fire officer in Northland, said the Fire Service was relying on residents to help with eyewitness accounts of the arsons, and wanted locals to report any suspicious activity.

Four helicopters using monsoon buckets and 47 firefighters, including volunteers who had earlier battled a costly timber mill fire in Kaitaia, fought the blaze at Pungaere, about 15km northwest of Kerikeri.

Fire Service Northland region commander Trevor Andrews said the Pungaere fire started at 2.30pm after a farmer's burn-off got out of control.

The service was speaking to the farmer but it was not known whether he had a permit to burn scrub.

"Despite permits and restrictions and bans it still comes down to common sense, really," Mr Andrews said.

The fire destroyed manuka, pines and grass and the farmer had moved livestock from the danger area.

Residents along Onekura Rd said there was a huge amount of smoke and wind was fanning the fire, which started in the east and moved west before turning back again.

Resident Sue Stewart said thick smoke was blowing all around her home. The fire had come within four to five paddocks of the property.

The Fire Service reported the blaze was under control just after 7pm and said ground crews would start dampening down hot spots.

In the Far North, a ban on all fires in the open - including hangis and beach fires - comes into force from Friday at midnight.

The region is extremely dry and supplies of water used to fight blazes are running short.

Late last night, fire crews were fighting a big scrub blaze in the Haywards Hill area, north of Lower Hutt. The Fire Service, responding to a reported car fire, said the blaze quickly spread to a large area of vegetation. They were considering evacuating nearby residents.

Earlier yesterday a scrub fire south of Auckland prompted a number of 111 calls from concerned motorists.

The fire broke out along old Great South Rd at about 1.15pm and burned pine trees and scrub. It is not being treated as suspicious.

The rural fire authority said several fires had occurred in Northland, Nelson and Canterbury, largely due to high winds associated with dry conditions.