KEY POINTS:
Wellington firefighting resources were stretched today when three suspicious blazes took hold within minutes of each other around the suburb of Brooklyn.
Fire Service communications shift manager Toby Acheson said the first of the fires broke out near the Masonic Lodge at the south of Brooklyn about 2pm, closely followed by one further south in Happy Valley.
About 10 minutes later, another fire was reported in nearby Mt Cook, a suburb bordering Brooklyn.
About 12 appliances had to be called from as far afield as Porirua and Rimutaka, as well as specialist vehicles and three helicopters.
"It all got quite busy there for a while," Mr Acheson said.
All the fires were in "green areas" and although no houses were damaged, some were threatened.
The largest of the fires was at least 100m by 100m and Ohiro Road and Happy Valley Road had to be closed while firefighters brought the blazes under control.
Nobody was injured.
Mr Acheson said the fires were now all under control but rural fire officers expected to remain dampening down hot spots until about 10pm.
He believed all three fires were suspicious.
"I think they are, just because they happened so close to each other, physically and timewise."
No fire-starting materials had been found so far.
- NZPA
