Choppers fight blaze

A helicopter uses a monsoon bucket to quell a grass fire in Napier yesterday.

Two helicopters used monsoon buckets to quell a 7500sq m grass fire on a Napier cliff face yesterday.

Fire service central communications shift manager Mike Wanoa said fire crews were called to the blaze near Flat Rock about 5.30pm.

Two helicopters were used to extinguish the blaze, along with crews from Napier and Bay View and Hastings District Council's rural fire authority.

The fire was in a remote location and did not threaten any properties.

Napier Station Officer Warrick Le Quesne said the fire was about 150 metres by 50m. It was rapidly climbing the steep cliff face.

"The thing that made it difficult was that it was vertical. It raced to the top of the cliff, where there was dry grassland, so our goal was to stop it from reaching the top."

He said dry conditions had exacerbated the blaze.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated.