Plumes of smoke can be seen from a bush fire in Upper Hutt. Photo: Supplied / Fire and Emergency NZ
Two helicopters are supporting firefighters battling a bush fire in Upper Hutt, north of Wellington, on Wednesday afternoon.
More than 10 fire trucks are fighting the blaze which started near Stroma in the suburb of Timberlea.
Fire crews are trying to cut the fire off from an area of pine trees and dense scrub along the rail corridor.
Fire and Emergency NZ said train services had not been affected so far.
FENZ was asking members of the public stay clear of the area.
Assistant commander Gareth Hughes said: "We appreciate that we are currently causing some disruption in the area, however. we have all resources needed in place to fight the fire and would appreciate the public giving our crews some space to operate."
FENZ also asked that drones not be flown in the area as this would ground its helicopter support.
Emergency services were alerted just before 1pm.
Earlier this afternoon, a FENZ spokesperson said the fire had grown to nearly 200 square metres in size but there were no reports of homes being threatened at this stage.
Firefighters say conditions on the ground are gusty.
At 4pm, Fire and Emergency said the blaze had been contained to an area of about one hectare.
More than 10 fire trucks are fighting the blaze which started near Stroma in the suburb of Timberlea. Photo: Supplied / Fire and Emergency NZ
"Our crews continue to dampen down hotspots and will remain on site for some time.
"We will be operating a Fire and Emergency drone over the fire later today to map hot spots, so we continue to ask the public to ensure they do not fly drones near the scene."
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