Northland's tinder-dry conditions caused a quad bike fire to extend into a blaze which threatened homes and which took four fire crews and two helicopters to extinguish.
The blaze started at Te Ra Rd, just south of Takou Bay, on Monday afternoon.
Kaeo fire chief Lindsay Murray said the farmer managed to hitch the blazing bike to another and tow it away from trees, although he then faced the problem of unhitching it when the flames became fierce.
He called the fire service immediately but the blaze spread quickly in the dry conditions, burning about 3ha of scrub and pasture.
The Kaeo brigade was first on the scene followed by the Hihi and Taupo Bay rural fire crews, two crews from Kerikeri.
