[ad_1]
Six helicopters and 30 firefighters are fighting a 40-hectare fire that started in a forest block in Manawatū overnight.
Teams rushed to Lake Rd, Oroua Downs in the Manawatū Tangimoana Forest, about 30 kilometers west of Palmerston North, just after 6 p.m. Thursday after the vegetation ignited.
David Unwin / Stuff
Several helicopters work to put out a forest fire near Himatangi Beach.
Heavy machinery was used to cut firebreaks into the ground overnight to stop the spread of flames, but the fire had swept 40 ha of the plantation by 7 am.
Smoke rose hundreds of meters into the sky as crews returned to fight the flames on Friday morning.
Supplied
A beachgoer took this photo of the fire just before midnight from Himatangi Beach.
Fires and emergencies expect the wind to pick up later this morning, which will make conditions challenging for firefighters and may cause a smoke drift.
People are asked to exercise caution when passing Lake Rd so that emergency services can operate safely.
Supplied
Smoke billows out of Himatangi as a huge fire engulfs a forest block.
