Helicopters remain on standby after a large fire tore across Te Mata Peak in Hawke's Bay overnight.
The blaze - which spread 200 by 100 metres along the western side of the peak - is now out but until the area is cleared for hotspots, crews remain on alert.
Mike Devonshire the chair of the The Te Mata Park Trust got the call to tell him the hillside was alight - around the same time as Fire and Emergency - and went to the hillside.
He speaks to Susie Ferguson.
