By RNZ
Two helicopters are supporting firefighters battling a bush fire in Upper Hutt, north of Wellington, on Wednesday afternoon.
More than 10 fire trucks are fighting the blaze which started near Stroma in the suburb of Timberlea.
Fire crews are trying to cut the fire off from an area of pine trees and dense scrub along the rail corridor.
Fire and Emergency NZ said train services had not been affected so far.
Fire and Emergency was asking members of the public to stay clear of the area.
Assistant commander Gareth Hughes said: “We appreciate that we are currently causing some disruption in the area, however. we have all resources needed in place to fight the fire and would appreciate the public giving our crews some space to operate.”
Fire and Emergency also asked that drones not be flown in the area as this would ground its helicopter support.
Emergency services were alerted just before 1pm.
Earlier this afternoon, a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said the fire had grown to nearly 200sq m in size but there were no reports of homes being threatened at this stage.
Firefighters say conditions on the ground are gusty.
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