Fireworks spark Papamoa beach fire

An area of scrub on Papamoa Beach Rd was set alight last night by a stray firework blown across the road by a gust of wind, Papamoa deputy chief fire officer Brent Sandford says.

The voluntary Papamoa fire crew were called to an area about 10 by 20 metres on fire near the Papamoa Top 10 Holiday park about 8pm.

It took the crew about 45 minutes to put out the blaze with two high pressure hoses.

Neighbours across the road had been letting off fireworks when one blew over the road and sparked the scrub, Mr Sandford said.

"There were a couple of teenagers letting off fireworks and one blew over and got caught up.

"It's pretty dry at the moment so it was going pretty good."

He said the group had been doing everything right but people just needed to be aware of wind in the area when letting off fireworks.

"They were being cautious and thought they were safe. There's a road between them [the property and the scrub area] and a gust of wind had just blown it over."

It was the only fireworks related call the Papamoa crew received and only one of about five over the past three years, he said.

"Just be careful where you use them and make sure there's no wind."