Kakamatua on the Manukau Coast is a big dog walking site.

‹Fire service was notified of a fire at Kakamatua at 3.30pm yesterday (26/12/2014). The Fire began at the base of the hill on the eastern side of of the bay. There was no confirmed cause of the fire at this stage.

The fire service report that an estimated that 10-12ha of park land is affected / burning. Police  closed off the Cornwallis Wharf Road from Firebreak Road –  meaning that people could not  access the wharf area and Pupunga Point monument by car. Two helicopters and 15 crews were utilised to control the fire. Park rangers put signs up at Firebreak Road and Cornwallis Wharf  and advised the public of the risk and the preference for them to leave the area.

The focus on Friday for the fire service was preventing the spread rather than extinguishing the fire. To achieve this they dampened the perimeter of the fireground. On Saturday crews of tree fellers from Whangarei began creating a firebreak around the fire to allow it to burn itself out.

The fire service estimated that it would take 1 to 2 days to contain the fire and 1 week for it to be fully extinguished.

Saturday morning: There are currently some specific  hot spots that they are monitoring to ensure that the fire doesn’t progress up to the housing on the ridge line or around Puponga Point. They don’t consider the fire to be under control as yet and advise that they have a couple of days work ahead of them. Cornwallis Road remains closed today from Huia Road  meaning that the public will not be able to access the wharf, Firebreak Road and Pupunga Point by vehicle. The Kakamatua car park will also be inaccessible to the public. Tracks in the area also remain closed.

By 1pm Saturday, the Fire Service said the fire was under control.