The fire broke out in an orchard near Taipā Area School. Photo: Supplied / Micheal Crossley
A large fire in a Far North orchard is still burning but is now fully contained, the firefighter in charge says.
Incident controller Denis Cooper said the blaze started at Taipā, in Doubtless Bay, around 1pm and spread quickly along a roughly 600-metre stretch of shelter belt.
At one point there were concerns Taipā Area School, on the other side of State Highway 10, might have to be evacuated due to thick smoke.
Fortunately, however, the wind was blowing much of the smoke away from the school.
"People with houses on the other side of the orchard were also concerned of course, but our crews had it contained pretty quickly. It was burning for a long time. In fact, it's still burning, but it can't go anywhere now," Cooper said.
Two helicopters and fire crews from Mangōnui, Kaitāia and Karikari brought the fire under control.
Forestry crews would monitor the fire overnight so volunteer firefighters could go home.
Another forestry crew would be brought in on Tuesday to finish putting out hot spots before a repeat of Monday's strong winds and low humidity was expected.
Cooper believed he knew how the fire started but would talk to the orchard owners before deciding on the cause.
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