Helicopter in firefight east of Hastings

A helicopter at work during a fire between Hastings and Waimarama in 2017. Two smaller fires were being battled in the area today. Photo / File

Fire crews assisted by a helicopter took about two hours on Sunday to extinguish to fires between Hastings and Hawke's Bay coastal settlement Waimarama.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand reported the alarm was raised at 10.48am, and crews faced two fires a short distance apart, off Waimarama Rd and near Lake Lopez, about 12km from Havelock North.

One helicopter, three "urban" units from the Havelock North and Hastings brigades, and multiple rural firefighting teams attended with a fire service command unit also in place.

The fires, one in an area of about 10m x 60 in grass and the other in blackberry and other growth over an area extending to about 200m, were extinguished by 12.30pm and the last of the crews was understood to have left the scene soon afterwards.

Police were also called for traffic control, closing the road for a short time.