Firefighters are this morning battling a blaze in the Heads Road area of Wanganui.
Initial reports suggest the fire may be at or near a scrap yard.
Huge plumes of smoke were seen billowing across the city and over Castlecliff.
A fire that started in dry grass and sawdust in a Wanganui yard was caused by embers from an earlier fire 200 metre away in a Castlecliff scrap metal yard.
Both fires are now out.
The embers fell out of the thick black acrid smoke from burning tyres in ScrapMetal Wanganui's Rogers St yard.
The second fire, at Hoskins yard on Head's Rd, was brought under control about 11.30am by the two fire units that attended from the Whanganui Fire Service.
Senior station officer Bryce Coneybeer said investigations were continuing into the cause of the first fire that started just after 9.30am.
