![Smoke billows from a spot between railway tracks and houses next to SH29A. Photo / George Novak](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EWB6HUOKZNSWVCG26CERFZFRDY.jpg?auth=fa3ed7c54b14f4d704f517cf4ae3181a817c816dc3786a0460d2549d101f970c&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Mount Maunganui residents are desperately using garden hoses to try to fight a spate of fires which have broken out next to a busy Tauranga highway.
A motorist phoned the Bay of Plenty Times to say he could see flames burning in the grass next to the railway tracks alongside SH29A between Maungatapu Bridge and Baypark Stadium.
![Fire has broken out between SH29A and homes at Matapihi, Mount Maunganui. Photo / George Novak](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/35V2QFSZVI6Q4VGJDRH7EJUVSM.jpg?auth=9642ab5b82b4ac719c3808538cea18b8ffb6e8d1c2d85bd4701dbb589ba994c6&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
The fires were burning in clusters between the tracks and houses and there was a lot of smoke everywhere, he said.