It took firefighters a couple of hours to ensure the fire in a large pile of driftwood on Kai Iwi Beach was fully extinguished. Photo / Stuart Munro
Whanganui fire crews were kept busy on New Year's Eve with residents calling in about backyard bonfires.
Senior station officer Craig Gardiner said there were eight calls overnight on Monday, with most relating to "leer ups" with backyard fires.
There was also a call to Whanganui Prison at Kaitoke where
sprinklers had been set off, Gardiner said.
On New Year's Day, firefighters spent several hours at Kai Iwi beach dealing with a large pile of driftwood that caught fire near the play area.
There were three New Year bonfires on that area of the beach and one, which was not extinguished, sparked the fire in the driftwood pile.
