Alert after fire halted

Ruakaka Fire Brigade Station Officer Jeff D'Ath

Quick action by Ruakaka firefighters stopped a scrub fire lit by a horse trainer from threatening animals in nearby paddocks.

The incident has prompted a senior firefighter to warn those who held fire permits to be careful while lighting scrub fires as conditions were still dry.

Bart Wichmann, owner of Northland Equestrian in Ruakaka, rang Ruakaka Fire Station on Monday morning to tell firefighters of his plans to burn rubbish left behind by the previous owner of a property he had moved into. He was given the green light but things did not go to plan.

"The wood I was burning had some sort of oil in them and the flames were higher and hotter than expected," he said.

Ruakaka Fire Brigade Station Officer Jeff D'Ath said Mr Wichmann did everything right but people needed to exercise caution around fires.

"The base of the soil just above and below are still very dry so the message really is for people to be careful while burning rubbish and that's the reason people get permits because conditions are very dry."

If the wind had whipped up a little bit, he said the fire, just north of Marsden Pt Rd on State Highway One, could have spread into other paddocks.

"It burnt very hot and spread quickly on grass but luckily the fire station was one kilometre from the fire so we got there quickly."