Fire crews back at Whanganui South Mole after new vegetation fire flares up

Fire and Emergency NZ crews worked to contain the 20m by 20m fire within two hours. Photo / NZME

Fire crews are working to dampen hotspots after a small fire ignited in the same area as a recent large vegetation fire at Whanganui’s South Mole.

Fire and Emergency NZ crews responded to the call of a small vegetation fire at the South Mole, near Whanganui Airport, around 7.30pm on Thursday.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Alison Munn said the fire was around 20m by 20m in size and in the same area as the fire on January 25.

Three firetrucks and one support vehicle attended the scene and contained the fire by 9.30pm.

Munn said crews “had a long night”, packing up at 11.40pm.

“They did have some problematic hot spots, which they were not keen to leave overnight, so they were working on those,” she said.

Crews from Whanganui, Palmerston North Volunteer Fire Brigade and Koitiata were at the scene on Friday morning to dampen down the area to prevent flare-ups, Munn said.

Four fire trucks attended.

A helicopter was used to fight a smaller fire in the same area reported at 12.45pm on Thursday.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.