Firefighters battled the same blaze three times in six hours after a dryer at a wood mill in Kaitaia caught fire, causing the evacuation of 25 staff.
It came the same day as a house fire had occupants fleeing for their lives.
Eight fire appliances first attended the fire at Juken New Zealand Veneer Mill on Whangatane Drive, arriving first at 4.45pm on Saturday after one of the dryers caught fire.
Kaitaia chief fire officer Colin Kitchen was first on the scene and said about 25 staff had to be evacuated, though no one was injured.
While the fire was isolated within the 8 by 30m dryer, the steam suppression system used to extinguish such fires was unable to do so.
Five appliances from Kaitaia and one each from Ahipara, Kaeo and Kaikohe attended the blaze.
The fire service was called back twice that night after the dryer caught fire again when staff, who were able to return to the building, attempted to restart the machine.
"It might appear to be a problem in the dryer," Mr Kitchen said. It is believed the mill will investigate the cause of the fire. It was the sixth fire at the mill in the past month. Mr Kitchen said the fire service would sit down with operators at the mill to find out the cause of the fires.
Meanwhile, the occupants of a house in Kaikohe were forced to evacuate after an oil pan left unattended caught fire, causing significant damage.
The fire was "well involved" when two appliances from Kaikohe arrived at the Guerin Street house at about 8.25am on Saturday.
Specialist fire investigator Terry Baylis said people needed to make sure to always attend to cooking and not to leave it alone.
While the house was still standing there was significant structural damage. It was unclear how many people were in the house at the time.
Mr Baylis said there were no injuries reported.
Also on Saturday, Far North fire appliances were assisted by two helicopters with monsoon buckets to battle a vegetation fire burning in hilly country near Kenana Road in Mangonui.
The blaze was thought to be between 3-5ha though it was unclear how it started.
The fire service first attended the fire at about 3.30pm on Saturday and stayed for more than four hours.
Another vegetation fire was sparked on the same day after a grinder which was being used in long grass sparked a blaze that threatened nearby forestry.
Two fire appliances from Pukenui and one from Kaitaia attended the 20 by 100m blaze on Kimberly Rd in Ngataki at about 2.30pm on Saturday.
Strong easterly winds blew it towards nearby forestry before crews got it under control at about 5pm.
Mr Kitchen praised the efforts of all his volunteer crew who had nine callouts on Saturday alone.