Digger catches fire in Ngongotahā

A digger caught fire on SH5 about 200m from the roundabout near Ngongotahā this afternoon.

A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said they were alerted to the incident at 12.35pm and the digger was "well alight" when they arrived.

Two appliances from Ngongotahā and one from Rotorua attended the fire which had now been put out, he said.

One lane was blocked off but the berm on the other side was being used to allow traffic to continue flowing.

He said it was not yet known how the fire started.

Three fire appliances were sent to the incident in Ngongotahā. Photo / Supplied

A witness said she saw "a huge plume of smoke" as she drove into the roundabout from Mamaku.

"We drove past on the other side of the road with the window down and you could really feel the heat coming off it, it was massively hot," she said.

The fire has been extinguished. Photo / Andrew Warner