Suspicious scrub fire burns through Coromandel kiwifruit orchard near Pāuanui

The coastal holiday town of Pāuanui has about 1000 residents, which swells to around 15,000 with holidaymakers in summer.

Fire has burned through a kiwifruit orchard near the Coromandel town of Pāuanui overnight, with officials treating it as suspicious.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the blaze started just before midnight and quickly grew to a size of 50 by 50m, prompting a third alarm that signalled its severity.

Fire crews were called to the scene and moved quickly to extinguish the fire.

They were able to bring the situation under control and left the scene at around 12.45am.

The fire is said to have burned through multiple trees in the orchard.

Fire and Emergency NZ is treating the fire as suspicious.

Pāuanui is a coastal beach town about 45 minutes by car from Thames.

It serves as a popular holiday town and beach resort on the Coromandel Peninsula.

There is a resident population of around 1000 people, with numbers swelling to around 15,000 in summer.

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