Firefighter were called to a Kahuranaki property three times in five hours over a burnoff that got out of control. Photo / NZME
Firefighter were called to a Kahuranaki property three times in five hours over a burnoff that got out of control. Photo / NZME
Firefighters in Hawke's Bay were needed at eight different fire callouts in six hours on Thursday evening as their lockdown workload continues to ramp up.
The jobs included three callouts to the same address in Kahuranaki, near Waimarama - the first at 4.40pm found a controlled burn off taking place,the second at 5.20pm found it had started to burn out of control into fencing, and the third at 9.05pm was to re-extinguish a fence post that was smouldering away.
Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman Murray Dunbar said at 4.10pm firefighters from the Taradale station put out a rubbish fire in the suburb and then just over an hour later were called to a minor motor vehicle crash nearby.
In Napier, they were called to a fire in a rubbish bin at Marewa School about 6pm.
Dunbar said the night of callouts finished at 10.50pm with a trip to the intersection of State Highway 2 and State Highway 5, Eskdale, where a truck's trailer-load of sawdust had caught fire.
It continues a busy few days for firefighters in the region. From Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, the first full night of lockdown, there were almost a dozen callouts.