A large bush fire forced the evacuation of homes in the far north in the early hours of this morning.
Emergency services were called to Whangaruru, Northland, just before midnight.
Northern fire communications shift manager Megan Ruru said firefighters were initially dealing with a blaze covering 1ha of bush.
Three properties had to be evacuated as a result. However, none of the homes were damaged and there were no injuries reported.
Ms Ruru said the fire spread across about 4ha of bush by the time firefighters put it out by about 3am.
