Winds gusting up to 120km/h caused a large Wairarapa forest fire which burned for over 15 hours and came close to destroying four homes.
More than seven hectares of pine trees, each between 15 to 20 metres tall, were lost after the blaze near Otahome Rd, about 15km south of Castlepoint.
Up to 20 firefighters from seven appliances battled the fire from 4am Wednesday until it was put out about 7.30pm.
Wairarapa principal rural fire officer Phill Wishnowsky told NZ Newswire the fire started after sparks from a powerline ignited after it was hit by a tree branch in high winds.
The fire, which was on a 130 hectare pine forest, was fanned by northwesterly gales which reached 120km/h.
The flames came within 200 metres of four empty holiday homes. They were not damaged and there were no reports of injury.
Two firefighters monitored hotspots overnight and remained on the scene on Thursday.
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