Fires on Mt Wellington, Mt Eden in Auckland after Guy Fawkes fireworks
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
A large scrub blaze broke out on Auckland's Maungarei / Mt Wellington on Guy Fawkes Night.
Just a few suburbs over, a separate fire broke out in the crater of Maungawhau / Mt Eden.
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The flames, first reported around 10pm, were visible from surrounding suburbs and plumes of smoke billowed low across the city. By midnight, both fires were largely under control, Fire and Emergency NZ said.
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Both fires are suspected to have been sparked by fireworks, and firefighters were expected to be on the scenes late into the night.
Photos showed what appeared to be a significant fire on Maungarei / Mt Wellington, generating large plumes of smoke.
A woman living near Mt Wellington said the fire had quickly expanded after apparently starting from a single firework, and could be heard even from houses down at the base of the hill.
She said fires started on the mountain most years around Bonfire Night.
Lauren Wessels from Stonefields, a suburb neighbouring Mt Wellington, said the large fire was on a difficult-to-access steep area on the mountain.
There was a lot of smoke and several fire engines and crews trying to battle the blaze, she said.
With no road access to the fire, firefighters with torches could be seen moving in a line towards the flames in the darkness.
Frequent fireworks could be heard across the city, even as the fire burned.
FENZ Communications shift manager Carren Larking said crews were at the scene of the blaze on Mt Wellington and there was not thought to be any threat to houses at this stage.
It's understood that fire crews had received multiple reports from people able to see flames or smell smoke in their homes from around 10pm.
Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley, who also lives nearby, called for a ban on fireworks after another 'heartbreaking' blaze on the maunga.
'I was here exactly the same time last year on guy fawkes filming because people had let off fire works around here and started a fire, and the same thing has happened again,' she said in a video posted on social media.
'This is totally unacceptable.
'We need to ban fireworks because people are irresponsible.'
A few suburbs west, five fire appliances had contained another scrub fire to the crater of Maungawhau / Mt Eden, Larking said.
Crews were working into the night with hoses and firefighting foam to dampen down hotspots, she said.
Witnesses said smoke from the fire was blanketing nearby suburbs.
Mount Eden was 'absolutely covered in smoke, it's seeping into our apartment', said one nearby resident.
Further down the country, a public fireworks display in Palmerston North also ended with a scrub fire after a wayward rocket apparently set fire to nearby vegetation.
Feilding woman Shelley Allanson, watching the display with her daughters, said sparks seemed to start the flames.
'They were good until the first five minutes and then all these flames started coming up,' Allanson said.
'It was just little flames at the start and you just saw a bit of smoke…
'As the flames were coming down you could see more sparks from the fireworks adding to it and then just it went up.'
A scrub fire in Wellington was put out around 8pm.
There were also reports of a large fire in a hedge in Burwood in Christchurch.
It's not the first time Mt Wellington has been set alight on Guy Fawkes Night.
Residents also reported firework debris across Mission Bay after last Bonfire Night.