Firefighters were called to the Te Puke Sikh temple's Diwalli fireworks display last night after a neighbouring shelter belt caught fire.

'It was proper firework operators that were conducting the display,” says Te Puke Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Glenn Williams.

Twelve fire fighters, two Te Puke fire engines and a tanker were ised to fight a blaze in Te Puke last night.

'I think they set the equipment too close to a shelter belt. Some of the sparks from the fireworks got into the shelter belt.

'We could see the display from our bedroom window. It basically got to the end of the display and the siren went off.”

Firefighters were called at 9.34pm. Twelve fire fighters, two Te Puke fire engines and a tanker were used to fight a spectacular blaze that burned through 50 metres of shelter, says Glenn.

'It wasn't just a straight forward shelter belt fire. Because we couldn't get close enough we had to run out quite a number of lengths of hose and bring a water supply in from a hydrant out on the road.

'As soon as we got onto the main road heading out to it, we could see the flames from there. They were shooting well into the air.”

Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour and a half, says Glenn.

Diwalli is a Hindu festival celebrated during autumn in the northern hemisphere. It celebrates the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair.

It can be a five-day festival, with the main night coinciding with the dark of the moon of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika, which is today.