In their thirteenth callout this year, Raglan firefighters headed out at 4pm on Saturday 26th January to join with other fire crews in tackling a vegetation fire in Waingaro Landing Rd, northeast of Raglan in the Waikato where a block of pine trees caught fire. Three appliances went to the scene, along with a water tanker.
Fire Service spokeswoman Tania Matthews says firefighters initially struggled to control the fire because it hads been difficult to access water.“There was a fire in pine trees approximately 80 by 80 metres.”
Waikato Regional Rural Fire Committee chairman Andy Baker advised people across the Waikato region to obtain a permit to light any fire in the open air. Mr Baker said, “ most of our fire fighters across Waikato are volunteers and it is unfair and unreasonable to expect them to have to give up their time and often money to fight fires that could have been avoided if people used a little more common sense.”