Hawke’s Bay fire crews fight large blaze from Ōmakere burn-off

A permitted burn-off that turned serious near Ōmakere led to multiple fire crews and dozens of firefighters tackling the blaze.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand was alerted to a vegetation fire in Pourerere Rd about 3.30pm on Saturday after a burn-off of slash and debris on farmland got out of control.

Crews from Ōmakere, Waipawa, Ōtāne, Tamatea, Waipukurau, Hastings, Elsthorpe, Napier, Tikokino and Heretaunga attended.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said the fire escalated to a “third-alarm attendance” and about 55 firefighters with 15 pumps, tankers, specialist support vehicles and a digger battled the blaze until 10.30pm on Saturday.

An attending firefighter, who wished to remain anonymous, said when they arrived there were “four or five piles of slash and rubbish burning”. The fire then quickly spread across the large paddock.

“There were people and fire appliances everywhere to get it all under control,” he said.

“It was about 10 o’clock when we basically controlled most of it, but people were on standby overnight.”

All of Hawke’s Bay, excluding Te Haroto, Wairoa inland and coastal, is in a restricted fire season, meaning anyone planning on lighting an open-air fire needs to apply for and obtain a permit from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

The firefighter confirmed the landowner did have a permit.

The firefighter said the wind on Saturday was not a factor in the fire spreading, but this fire was one of the bigger ones their station had attended this year.

Although the fire did get close to Pourerere Rd, it was extinguished quickly and the road remained open.

Crews returned on Sunday morning to ensure hotspots were extinguished.