The scrub fire near Te Puna in Western Bay of Plenty has been contained after it forced evacuations from homes threatened by the blaze earlier on Wednesday.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand says 20 personnel will be working overnight to extinguish the fire.
A 4.46pm Fenz said crews were responding to a vegetation fire on Snodgrass Rd, north of Tauranga.
Evacuations were underway, and a number of properties were at risk.
People in homes affected by smoke from the fire were advised to keep their windows and doors closed and turn off any air conditioning units.
“I was coming up the hill towards the Minden Lookout, and there is a massive lot of smoke right across the Minden,” a Sunlive reader said.
“It must be a massive fire.”
A Te Puna waterfront resident on The Esplanade said the wind was “pretty intense”.
“We can’t see the smoke from here, but with the wind we’ve had, it would have whipped up fairly quickly.”
”I could smell the smoke and was getting covered in ash in our yard off Hewletts Road,” a SunLive reader said, who first noticed the smoke and ash at 3.45pm.
“I knew it must be a fairly big one.”
In an update at 8.18pm, Fenz said the fire was contained and they were transitioning to the mop-up phase.
“Fire and Emergency is working with partner agencies to ensure evacuated residents safely return to their properties once heli operations finish,” they said.
Constable Vincent Kahui joined in after much encouragement from the crowd.