No Charges: Youth Admit Accidentally Starting Mount Wellington Fire

A group of young men will not be charged after admitting to accidentally starting a fire that swept through the bush of an Auckland maunga.

The great fire on Mount Wellington started shortly after 8pm yesterday and could be seen from across the city.

A police spokesman confirmed today that officers spoke with three youths at the scene and were satisfied that the fire was accidental.

No charges would be filed.

Resident Alistair Hayward said the fire was quite large, “surprisingly large.”

Locating the fire proved difficult for firefighters, as it was only accessible via a steep mountain pass, forcing firefighters to fight the blaze from the road about 50 meters away, Hayward said.

“It was very close to a large patch of pine trees and it was difficult to know if those trees were going to go up in flames,” he said.

Hayward said firefighters did a great job containing the blaze, as a row of new townhouses were under threat of being consumed.