The vegetation fire in the Snodgrass Road area at Te Puna, Bay of Plenty, remains contained and is now transitioning to the mop up phase, said a Fire and Emergency spokesperson.

“The fire has not grown, and 20 personnel will be working overnight to extinguish the fire,” a spokesperson said.

Fire crews were called around 3.20pm to reports of multiple shelterbelts on fire.

By 6.45pm, the fire was estimated to have burned around 3.5km of shelterbelt, with 16 appliances including multiple support vehicles and fire crews from Ōmokoroa, Greerton, Katikati, Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Waihī, Te Puke, Mayor View, and Pāpāmoa attending.

Ten properties were evacuated, with a helicopter working on extinguishing the fire until twilight. 

“Fire and Emergency is working with partner agencies to ensure evacuated residents safely return to their properties once helicopter operations finish at 8.30pm,” a FENZ spokesperson said.

Te Puna shelterbelt fire. Photo/Jacinda Lean.

A Te Puna waterfront resident and SunLive reader who lives on The Esplanade noted that the wind had been gusting up during the afternoon.

MetService recorded moderate westerlies of 28km/h this afternoon with gusts up to 41km/h between 4pm and 6pm.

"The wind was pretty intense this afternoon. We couldn’t see the smoke from here, but with the wind we've had, it would have whipped up fairly quickly," said the SunLive reader at the Te Puna waterfront.

Te Puna shelterbelt fire seen from the corner of Armstrong Rd and Snodgrass Rd, Te Puna. Photo / Alex Harrison

A Mount Maunganui SunLive reader reported noticing the impact of the fire due to the westerly wind, within 30 minutes of it being reported to FENZ.

"I could smell the smoke and was getting covered in ash in our yard off Hewletts Road," said the SunLive reader, who first noticed the smoke and ash at 3.45 pm.

"I knew it must be a fairly big one [fire]."

Local residents impacted by the smoke were advised to keep their windows and doors closed and turn off any air conditioning units.

Police said residents are returning home tonight.

"Snodgrass Road is due to reopen tonight," said a Police spokesperson.

FENZ said the next update on the fire will be at 8am on Thursday morning.

If anyone in the vicinity of the fire has concerns overnight, they should dial 111.

Te Puna fire seen from Tauranga harbour. Photo/Claire Rogers.

Te Puna Shelterbelt fire. Video by Lateisha Holden.