Firefighters say a scrub fire in Otahuhu, Auckland was started by an unattended umu pit in a backyard.
The fire had spread to neighbouring properties by the time fire crews arrived this afternoon.
"There was a certain urgency to extinguish these other fires due to fire spread," says Otahuhu station officer George Lewis. "We had one truck initially turn up, and then we escalated it up to three."
He says the fire could have been much worse, had embers spread to the houses.
Mr Lewis urges residents to practise fire safety by always leaving fires attended and having a garden hose handy.
Newshub.
