North Shore scrub fire being treated as suspicious

Photo / File

A large scrub fire which threatened homes in Auckland last night is being treated as suspicious.

The blaze at Stanley Point, near Devonport, was 40 metres wide, the Fire Service said.

Firefighters were forced to fight the flames from both land and sea in order to contain it, after it caught fire around 11.30pm.

The fire was located on the southern end of Stanley Point, on the banks of the beach, Jaron Phillips of the northern Fire communications centre said.

It began to threaten homes in the area, and Fire Service received multiple calls about the blaze.

Firefighters from Devonport were tasked with protecting the houses, while other fire crews went out on board the police launch to fight the fire from the sea, and land-based crews battled the blaze from Stanley Point Rd.

"The scrub fire was located on the cliff, it was threatening houses," Mr Phillips said. "The fire itself was approximately 40m wide."

The fire was contained, and the area dampened down by around 2.15am, he said.

The fire was being treated as suspicious, Mr Phillips said.